The Concordian

sports life

Stingers nudge their way on to Quebec championship Friday P. 19

Curses, costumes and recipes P.6-7

the

2012 tuition increase already a done deal: protestors

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

P. 2

arts Concordia lends Stelarc an ear P. 9

music Duets spin two sides of the story P. 13

editorial Why does language have to hold us back?

P. 20

Volume 28 Issue 9

Photo by Jacob Serebrin

100 fewer students apply for 2010-2011 undergraduate incourse bursaries than last year Financial Aid and Awards Office would like to see more donations, while CSU VP finance thinks application process should be shorter Jacques Gallant Assistant news editor With the Oct. 17 deadline for applying for the incourse bursary program now passed, leaving the Financial Aid and Awards Office with 800 applications to consider, the FAAO director says she would like to see more money and more interested students.

The 20-year-old program for undergraduate students who are not in their first year of study doled out over $443,000 in 2009 in the form of about 429 bursaries. The numbers are almost the same this year, FAAO director Laura Stanbra said.

Last year, the awards, which average $1,000, were up for grabs among close to 900 applicants, a number that sank by 100 this year. ‘’It is not a serious decrease this year as the number does fluctuate every year,’’ says Stanbra. ‘’But even if the number of applicants exceeds the number of bursaries, we could always do with

more applications.’’

She explained that the FAAO worked on a six-week marketing campaign for the program, which included notices on the MyConcordia Portal, sending out mass emails and placing ads in campus newspapers.

But the message still hasn’t gotten through to all, with some students at the Sir George Williams campus completely unaware of what the in-course bursary program was. While two students indicated that they were aware of it, they did not fill out the application form as they deemed it too long.

The length of the application process is indeed a problem, according to CSU VP finance Zhuo Ling, himself a former in-course bursary applicant. ‘’It is very long and tedious and it could become a barrier for some students,’’ he said.

In future, Ling suggests that the FAAO link the incourse bursary application with the newly-implemented co-curricular transcript, which keeps track of a student’s extracurricular activities while at Concordia. ‘’That would eliminate at least three questions on the form and save students some time,’’ he said.

Stanbra acknowledges that filling out the form is much more than a five-minute thing, but explains the number of questions is necessary in ensuring that money goes to the right students. ‘’We’re handing out over $400,000 a year for this program. It’s a lot of money, so we need to have a

Indifference is the enemy: Elie Wiesel Wiesel uses his own experiences to discuss memory, suffering and forgiveness Evan LePage and Emily White News & life editors “Thank you for being who you are.”

This is how Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel opened his speech to Concordia students last Tuesday, before showing the audience who he is in a discussion of his life experiences and his efforts to always stand up against human suffering.

Wiesel began his speech with a discussion of memory, emphasizing the need to “keep memory alive.” This message was reiterated throughout the lecture, with Wiesel noting that if the world was always ready to learn from history, there would not have been genocides like the one in Rwanda.

Another central theme in Wiesel’s discussion was combating indifference, which he said “enables evil to be triumphant.” Referencing the

See “‘Bursary advertising...” on p.5 See “‘Nobel Laureate...” on p.3

theconcordian.com

news 2

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Got a news tip? news@theconcordian.com

City in brief Brennan Neill & Sarah Deshaies

CSU smiles for camera

After blistering coverage early Wednesday morning on CBC Montreal radio, the Concordia Student Union has decided to acquiesce to a request to invite CUTV to film monthly monthly meetings, saying the two will collaborate on a motion to present at the next council meeting. On Oct. 12, council shot down a motion 13-6 to invite CUTV to film the meeting and then distribute the footage to students. Councillors and executive members who voted against the motion cited concerns over privacy, student apathy and voter intimidation, while others advocated for it on the grounds of transparency. Daybreak host Mike Finnerty spoke to CUTV station manager Laura Kneale and motion co-author Joel Suss, and pondered why president Heather Lucas and VP external and projects Adrien Severyns did not answer their call to come on the show and explain why they were against the motion. In a press release, Lucas explained they were busy with the Elie Wiesel lecture.

Montreal police re-evaluate conjugal visit guidelines

Following the alleged murder of a 28year-old woman by her ex-husband, the Montreal police have announced that they will implement new guidelines when evaluating cases of conjugal violence. Maria Altagracia, a resident of Montreal North, filed a complaint against her former spouse with the police six days before she was slain, the Gazette reported. The new guidelines will help officers evaluate reports of conjugal violence and establish the role the officer should play in responding to reports. Officers investigating conjugal visits will also receive additional training to determine the risk of murder following a domestic dispute.

Drug ring on Mount Royal keeps on rolling

Montreal Police are a bit disappointed with the lack of results following numerous crackdowns on dealers that call the greens of Mount Royal their turf. Known as an illicit substance hot spot since the first Tams 20 years ago, the statue of Sir George-Étienne Cartier is still seen as the centre of activity for buyers and sellers. Station 38 Commander Stéphane Bélanger described the situation as a “never-ending cycle” as long as there is a demand. Bélanger added that the sheer amount of ground to be covered adds another challenge.

The Montreal Police said that they were not willing to post officers at the foot of the statue 24/7.

Warning: this newspaper is flammable near metro equipment

Rush hour commuters were treated to almost an hour of weary-eyed delays Monday morning after the STM closed the orange line between Côte-Vertu and Lionel-Groulx stations. The delay, which lasted 55 minutes, followed a report that smoke was emanating from a garage in the bowels of the Metro at 9 a.m. Firefighters investigated the smoke and determined that a small fire was sparked by newspapers littering the Côte-Vertu station after the piles were blown into the tunnel near some equipment.

advocacy

Campus groups mobilizing students for new negotiations of contract held by Pepsi New groups pushing for an alternative to Pepsi exclusivity, hopefully with student help Evan LePage News editor Last Wednesday TAPthirst, Tap Drinkers Against Privatization, staged a small demonstration to raise awareness about the extent of bottled water consumption on campus, and educate students and citizens about the consequences. The group piled one hour’s worth of empty water bottles collected from a few Concordia campus buildings, totalling about 360, in front of the statue of Norman Bethune at de Maisonneuve and Guy. The stunt successfully caught the attention of many onlookers, but really was only a small part of a much bigger mobilization the organization is currently pushing: increasing the student input into negotiations for a more sustainable, water-bottle free agreement to replace the university’s contract with PepsiCo when it expires at the end of this year.

After working over the summer to guarantee that students, staff and faculty are able to have some input in negotiations, TAPthirst’s efforts towards student mobilization are now in full swing. According to TAPthirst member Laura Beach, the organization has aligned themselves

TAPthirst members placed about 360 empty bottles into a pile to raise awareness about bottled water consumption. Photo by Cindy Lopez with Campus Against Corporatization, a new group also working to get students more involved in the contract process.

CAC held a strategizing session in the QPIRG office last Thursday evening, during which ten or so students worked to create a concrete proposal on a “mandate for mobilization” against corporatization. The proposal will be presented at the public assembly on the corporatization of Concordia to be held this coming Thursday, the purpose of which is to discuss how everyone will be effected by the contract, and create a “formal mobilization” against the simple renegotiation of a contract with Pepsi in the coming months.

“The goal will basically be to start combating corporate influence at Concordia by first and foremost tackling

this Pepsi contract, mobilizing against it, setting the precedent for what students want when it comes to their university and how they’re treated,” CAC organizer Alex Matak told those at the strategizing session.

Come January, Pepsi’s longstanding, 13-year exclusive contract with Concordia will expire. While this may seem like administrative issue to many students, these groups see it as an opportunity to end the presence of an unsustainable company selling unsustainable products, but also to end a monopoly on student choice in general.

“It sort of dawned on me recently that there sort of seems to be this hole when it comes to mobilization against the contract,” Matak said, adding that other than TAPthirst very few campus groups were speaking out against the

exclusivity contract.

Matak also emphasized that the fight does go beyond this one contract.

“It has mainly been framed in this sort of way that it’s more of a concern about specifically bottled water and specifically Pepsi,” she said. “I think that’s something that pertains to any kind of grassroots, social justice or student group that exists at Concordia. Anything that has to do with the well-being of the student community is going to be affected by the appearance of these corporate contracts.”

Beach made it clear that CAC is not against corporations themselves, but the corporatization process, a process she says that many “public institutions have undergone, universities especially.”

She also pointed to the importance of the Pepsi contract in asserting student rights in the decisions that will affect them. “This contract is something that affects all of our lives and up until now, to my knowledge, there hasn’t been any university in Canada which has negotiated a contact of this nature with student inclusion.”

Still, for TAPthirst, their mandate to fight for a water bottle-free campus remains a large motivator in their participation in this contract issue.

“We want bottled water out of vending machines, out of beverage outlets, and for Concordia to take a stance and say ‘yes, water is a human right, it was declared a human right by the UN this year,’” Beach said. “Everything in this world depends on water for survival.

It’s not something that should be commodified to be bought and sold.

It’s not something that corporations should be making billions of dollars of profit off of.”

tuition

Hundreds protest student-government consultations Protesters argue Quebec government trying to legitimize tuition increase Jacob Serebrin CUP Quebec Bureau Chief (CUP) — Despite steady rain, over 300 students protested in downtown Montreal on Thursday, calling on the provincial government to cancel a series of consultations with “education partners.”

Protesters said the consultations are illegitimate because the province has already announced plans to increase tuition in 2012.

“We want the rencontre des partenaires en education [meeting of education partners] to be cancelled immediately,” said Gabriel NadeauDubois, spokesperson for the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante, the group that organized the protest.

“This is not a consultation, this is to work out the details of the tuition increase in 2012.”

ASSÉ is Quebec’s second-largest student lobby group and represents over 40,000 students at universities and CEGEPs across the province.

According to Nadeau-Dubois, the government’s “only goal is to legitimize a decision that has already been made.” Instead, he said he’d like to see real engagement from the provincial government.

The protest snaked through downtown Montreal, and several times protesters turned from streets blocked off by police escorts and headed into traffic.

Protesters also staged a brief sit-in at a Montreal convention centre, where university leaders were meeting with members of the business community.

Nadeau-Dubois said the protest at the convention centre was meant to “highlight the link between the corporatization of education and tuition increases.”

Quebec’s largest student lobby group, the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, which represents over 115,000 students has also condemned the consultation, describing the process as “frivolous” and a “PR exercise,” however the group has said it intends to participate in the consultations.

Nadeau-Dubois said that ASSÉ has

planned another protest for the end of November, in front of the consultation, with the intention of shutting it down.

ASSÉ is calling for an immediate

tuition freeze, followed by a decrease in tuition fees until university education is free in Quebec.

Protestors staged a brief sit-in at the Montreal convention center where university leaders were meeting for tuition consultations. Photo by writer

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/theconcordian Continued from cover ...

Nobel Laureate tells Concordia students to keep memory alive, to never be indifferent Book of Job from the Tanakh, Weisel told the story of how Job questioned God’s ability to watch innocent people suffer asking “Is God indifferent to his own creations...Is God therefore someone who doesn’t even listen when people speak to him?” Indifference is something Weisel said, like Job, he cannot accept.

“Not a single work of art was created by an art of indifference,” Weisel continued. “Works of art can be created out of anger, out of sadness and even out of despair - but not out of indifference.”

Wiesel’s appearance was this year’s first event in association with the CSU’s annual speaker series. The student union’s VP external and projects Adrien Severyns, one of the event’s main organizers, said earlier this semester that they have secured former governor general Adrienne Clarkson to speak in January, and are also working on having David Suzuki and a few

other speakers for this year’s series.

Using his own experiences to illustrate his points, Wiesel offered personal stories from his time at Auschwitz Birkenau to his experiences as a teacher, and quoted passages from his books on multiple occasions during the speech.

At one point, Weisel told the audience that the question of whether forgiveness is possible is one that he is often asked. He answered, saying that he does not believe in collective guilt or collective innocence and therefore forgiveness is possible. He emphasized this by saying that “children of killers are not killers, children of killers are children.” In his experience, he says he has students from Germany who feel guilty for the actions of their grandparents and they themselves “are victims also of their grandparents and the regime.”

Yet, despite his willingness to forgive, Weisel recounted how one thing

that was always unsettling to him as well as his students was that Germany, as a functioning democracy, never asked the Jewish people for forgiveness.

Weisel ended his speech saying that 50 to 60 years “are concentrated in these words,” for which he received a standing ovation. He then answered questions submitted by attendees before the event, rather than the open question period commonly seen during these lectures.

Security for the event was very tight, and guards even spread out among the crowd for the question period, likely in case of an outburst from within the audience. The potential for controversy at the Wiesel lecture played itself out on its Facebook event page. The wall acted as a forum of debate, with posters passionately facing off on the issue of Wiesel’s opinions and participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The actually event, however, remained in-

cident free.

The speech seemed to be very positively received with Weisel drawing a second a standing ovation from the capacity crowd at the end of the question period. Political science student Dwight Best said that Wiesel did an incredible job of transmitting the emotions and experiences of the situations he described. “He goes into spiritual things, he goes into political things, he goes into so many different aspects of the life of somebody in adversity,” Best said.

In introducing Wiesel, Concordia professor Frank Chalk said that he has “sworn never to be silent, wherever and whenever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.” After covering topics from the genocide in Rwanda, to the Tibetan conflicts and even the continued imprisonment of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, Wiesel proved these words to be quite true.

A sit-down with author, lecturer Wiesel Compiled by Evan LePage News editor

The Concordian: “What do you hope students will gain out of your discussion today, and of your experiences?”

Elie Wiesel: “Both as a writer and a teacher, what I want really is to sensitize either my students or my readers to events they have not lived through, either in ancient Greece or Rome, or medieval heroes and villains, because this is sensitive.

Certainly I put an emphasis on sensitivity, not more. I am much more modest in my aspirations.”

C: “Society is a lot more secularized today, why do you believe that religion remains such an issue of conflict?”

EW: “First of all I don’t speak about my religion, I don’t speak about religion in general. I speak about culture, literature, philosophy; my religious life is a personal matter.

But tradition has been hijacked into some places which I think is wrong.

Religion and politics should not go together, it’s bad for both. It’s bad for politics, it’s bad for religion. Then religion becomes politics; it’s wrong.”

C: “As someone who has always advocated standing up for a cause, or just doing something, how would you address student apathy, students who don’t get involved with anything?”

EW: “I am biased I don’t know students who are like that. My students, I try to teach them how to be involved more and more and more.

To be a student is not only to be a student, it’s to be a human today.

Be involved, you cannot just remove yourself from society, from history.

You just cannot.”

your surroundings. I think they listen, when you say these things they listen. They say two things. Number one they say “we cannot do anything we are powerless,” which is a good argument only those with power can have power. But you can try, at least try. The effort in itself is rewarding, just try. The truth is the civil rights movement attained its victories on the campus. The Vietnam War ended on campuses. If students really become aware of their own power, they could change history.”

C: “So what would you say to people who decide not to get involved with something?”

C: “Considering the past statements you’ve made about the Concordia Student Union, like a negative view you’ve taken on the CSU before, what made you come want to talk to us today?”

thing? And that’s why I accepted.”

EW: “That they are losing something.

What are they gaining if they don’t get involved? What are they gaining?

To live a life that has no interest, that has no attraction, no challenge, no depth? It’s not an adventure anymore. To live a life which is not an adventure, what kind of life is that? Not to be involved is to remove oneself from whatever is outside. Obviously you are losing quite a lot. Society will go on without you, but can you go on without society, without

EW: “It hurt me. I said it’s wrong to abandon the Concordia students because of some protesters. Even the protesters, I’m sure they have their ideas. I don’t like the idea of preventing someone from speaking. If they had listened, and then protested I understand. But to prevent somebody from speaking is against what I believe in. And therefore I felt at the same time it’s a small group, and why should I not come and speak to students who want to hear some-

EW: “Absolutely. It’s because of that.

I simply felt for the students. I feel responsible for students, whoever they are. And anyone who reads anyone of my books is like my student.

And if they want me to come I have no right to say that I’m busy. I lead a very busy life, and to come and speak is not easy for me anymore.

I simply felt I owe it to the students who wanted to hear from me.”

Photo by Sarah Deshaies

C: “Then is it symbolic in a sense that you’ve come back to Concordia to speak to us?”

photo caps

3

Nation in brief Brennan Neill

Timmy Hos sets up shop in the great white north

Tim Hortons announced this week that they’ll be expanding into one of the few remaining places in Canada still free from the signature brown paper cups and Timbits. The three planned shops will be set up in in Iqaluit, Nunavut, in partnership with the North West Company, the once iconic fur trading outfit now turned retail company. Iqaluit’s 6,200 residents will no longer have to tote boxes crammed with dozens of doughnuts on inbound flights from airports outside of the region. No word yet if the menu will expand to include seal snack wrappers.

Randy Quaid flees from “star whackers”

There’s a large conspiracy afoot in Hollywood and Randy Quaid, best know as cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise, believes he’s the next on the hit list of the “star whackers.” Quaid and his wife, fearing for their lives, are claiming asylum in a Vancouver immigration court following an arrest

by Canada Border Services Agency for outstanding U.S. warrants. Quaid believes a nefarious cabal is behind some of the recent deaths of Hollywood stars including Heath Ledger and David Carradine, and claimes that their deaths are surrounded by “odd, mysterious circumstances.”

The couple said they were in Canada to accept an award from a film critic group and that they were considering moving to Vancouver to restart Quaid’s movie career.

So much for being a friendly neighbour, eh?

The conservative government is planning to overhaul the “abused” and “exploited” immigration policies of Canada by introducing Bill C-49, otherwise known as the Preventing Human Smugglers From Abusing Canada’s Immigration System Act. At the Port of Vancouver, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced the details of the recently tabled bill, which include a minimum sentence of 10 years for anyone caught smuggling in more than 50 people and not allowing smuggled immigrants to apply for residency for five years. Critics were quick to point out that without added resources it would be difficult to enforce and that determining who is a smuggler and who is being smuggled would be nearly impossible to determine.

Khadr pleads guilty at Guantanamo Bay

Seeing red? Nearly 2,500 off-duty police officers marched from StDenis to City Hall this past Wednesday in protest of their perceived lack of funding from the city. Led by the chairperson of the police brotherhood, Yves Francoeur, the mass of red-wearing officers denounced cutbacks that they say have resulted in decreased services and job cutbacks in the police department. Montreal’s public security committee is currently in contract negotiations with the police union.

Photo by Cindy Lopez

A march against police violence took place last Saturday, led by family members of Fredy Vilanueva, Anas Bennis, and other Canadians killed by police. After a vigil in front of the Police Brotherhood on Friday evening, the friendly but sombre march took place the following afternoon, taking walkers from Guy Street and de Maisonneuve Boulevard back to police headquarters. The families held photos of their lost loved ones while the entire crowd chanted anti-police slogans.

The march took place on the first annual North American Day to Stop Police Brutality and Repression. Photo by Tiffany Blaise

Nearly a decade later, Omar Khadr’s legal odyssey seems to be approaching an end after the Canadian government accepted Khadr’s guilty plea deal. The deal will allow Khadr to return to Canada to serve the rest of his sentence following a maximum of one year in Guantanamo Bay prison facility. Dennis Edney, Khadr’s lawyer, told the CBC that Khadr will face a maximum of eight years in Canadian prison and then will follow standard parole procedures. Khadr, only 14 at the time, was arrested by U.S. soldiers in July 2002 for allegedly throwing a grenade and killing Sgt. Christopher Speer. Edney said that Khadr “would have confessed to anything, including the killing of John F. Kennedy, just to get out of [that] hellhole.”

4

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

World in brief Evan LePage

Ban on Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz?

After making an undeniable impression on the world at the 2010 FIFA World Cup of soccer, the infamous vuvuzela could soon be banned in South Africa. The announcement came from a Premier Soccer League official after a recent game in the nation during which two vuvuzelas were launched on to the field. The official said that “Should vuvuzelas continue to be used as missiles they could be banned,” a comment which has some soccer fans in the nation threatening boycotts of Premier games. A cabbage was also thrown on the field in the same incident, and fans at games have reportedly been eating them in front of TV cameras to symbolize eating their opponents, but no potential ban on cabbage has been announced thus far.

NPR fires host after comment on Muslims

Ten-year National Public Radio commentator Juan Williams got fired last week for comments he made about Muslims while speaking on Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor. Williams, a well-reputed analyst and U.S. civil rights movement expert, was having a discussion about Muslims and 9/11 while on the program when he said “When I get on [a] plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.” NPR acted fairly quickly in ending his contract and releasing a statement that said Williams’ comments were inconsistent with their editorial standards and undermined his own credibility. Fox News has reportedly already offered Williams a multimillion dollar contract.

20-year-old student becomes Mexican police chief

After the police chief of Praxedis Guadalupe Guerrero, an area of Mexico caught in a drug war between rival cartels, was gunned down in July 2009, that position remained vacant for over a year with nobody willing to risk their life in facing down the gangs. That all changed in unexpected fashion last week when Marisol Valles Garcia, a 20-year-old student and mother of one, was invited by the mayor to become the new chief and accepted. In the last three years 6,000 killings have occurred in the border city, which sits on a known trafficking route. Garcia only has a 19-person force, one patrol car and four weapons, but has said that she will attempt to institute community policing and build trust with citizens.

UK TV star apologizes for trying to buy baby

James Caan, entrepreneur and star of the UK version of Dragons’ Den, apologized this week after film was released showing him offering to purchase a baby girl from a family in a flood-affected town in Pakistan.

Caan was in the region being filmed by a news network for a story on his charity work when he was handed a baby. Claiming he was overcome by emotion, Caan quickly offered 100,000 rupees, or just over $1,000, to buy the baby for his brother who lived nearby. The TV star, who at the time said he was “100 per cent serious,” has since come to his senses, saying in a radio interview on the BBC that he was not acting rationally and regretted his actions.

campus

Revitalizaing the Loyola chapel

New project works to modernize, open up chapel to students Sarah Deshaies Editor-in-chief Plans are underway by the Dean of Students office to modernize Concordia’s Loyola Chapel and expand its services to serve the greater spiritual needs of Concordia’s student population.

The spacious chapel was built in 1933 by the Jesuit priests at Loyola College, one of Concordia’s two precursors, and has served the community primarily as a Catholic space since then. Situated on the calmer of the two campuses, it’s a quiet space, largely cut off from the rush of students running to the shuttle bus and other stresses of life.

A 2009 request by the Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal to expand the Loyola chapel’s services to cover a broad range of religious and spiritual matters, brought the new plan into existence. In the last few years activities and student participation have dwindled at the chapel, admitted Solomon Krueger, a master’s student and Loyola chapel development officer. No clergy members call the space home anymore either.

Groups still use the space for events like mass, and private ceremonies such as weddings (one of which took place last Saturday), as well as “one-off” events like the

fundraiser for Haiti that took place last winter.

The new plan will involve a new name for the chapel, an exhibit on the building’s history in conjunction with university’s oral history department, and collaborations with other groups in the university to provide services like yoga, and hosting other events.

In order to prioritize the chapel’s space for student groups, a preferential fee structure will be put in place to favour student activities over outside communities.

Krueger is enthusiastic about making the chapel more open to the Concordia community; he is aware that students balance crazy schedules, and questioned whether a space like the chapel can help: “I’m hoping that by offering a wide variety of programs as well as a just a space people can use or rent, that yes, we can.”

Dean of students Elizabeth Morey said in an email, “Hopefully the centre will attract a wide variety of groups and activities which will promote the new vision and will also link the University with the outside community.”

Morey did not have exact figures on how much the ongoing project will cost students and the university, but mentioned that Concordia’s facilities management has contributed repairs and renovations “at no cost.”

Repairs thus far have included updating the kitchen area and redoing the floors. Future plans include optional blinds to cover religious iconography, and a new audio and lighting system for the space. The Sustainability

Action Fund is providing financial support for the project, including Krueger’s salary.

Krueger presented the current plan to the Arts and Sciences Federation of Associations council meeting two weeks ago, and plans on sharing it with other students in order to drum up interest. He says most students’ responses have been “surprisingly positive.”

But for now, it’s sure few students know of the space or the plans.

Kate Andrews, a first-year fine arts student who had wandered into the chapel said, “I had no idea about it.” She was quick to label the chapel as a “very pretty” space. She and her friend snapped photos of the space and chatted quietly, having walked in through the front door of the chapel, which Krueger keeps open as a incentive to draw in students.

Krueger said that the current timeline projects to have a new logo and name for spring 2011, and a launch in fall 2011.

Photo by writer

Krueger is enthusiastic about plans to expand the chapel’s services.

campus

campus

Concordia turns up the heat, literally

of the campuses’ colder classrooms.

Political science student Vanessa Kuchta spends most of her days at the Sir George Williams campus and says she struggles between keeping her coat on or off.

“It’s strange because some buildings are perfectly warm, and I’m comfortable, but others are still very cold and I tend to keep my jacket on,” she said..

Alyssa De Rosa The standard temperature for all Staff writer buildings on campus is determined by an index from the American Society As the temperature begins to dip, of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-ConConcordia has begun to brace itself for ditioning Engineers, an international the winter cold by turning up the heat technical society that develops heating a little early this year. and cooling standards.

According to the director of According to Gilbert, the standard engineering and building performance temperatures for a building during the Yves Gilbert, heating systems have winter are between 20 to 23.5 C. Most been in the works since September. of Concordia’s buildings are heated by Gilbert explained natural gas, while that as soon as the others are electriweather begins cally heated. to cool down the Although heating system is some of the older We had a mild put into effect. He buildings might feel also mentioned winter last year, like they have no that both campuses Concorand it showed in insulation, are usually heated dia spends a pretty around the same our heating costs. penny on keeping time, but it’s not the their students campus that deterwarm. yves Gilbert, director of mines if the heating “We had a mild engineering and building is on or off. winter last year, performance “It all depends and it showed in on the building,” our heating costs,” said Gilbert. “Some Gilbert said. “We buildings are not as spent $1.8 million insulated as others on heating the last and it also depends on the ventilation fiscal year,” adding that this represystem in that building. Every building sented a 15 per cent decrease from a is different and the standard temtypical year. perature of a building is the governing Unfortunately, the cold weather factor if and when the heating will be seems to have come early this year on.” and if Montreal experiences a normal This explains why students can winter, Concordia will spend roughly be seen wrapped up in scarves and $2.3 million on heating for both layers both outside and within some campuses.

University begins to heat campuses early, though the temperature may vary by building

“

ASFA’s Green Week ends with a smorgasbord Farmer’s market saw students picking up homegrown treats from the source, all from the Hall building terrace Renee Giblin Staff writer Ruby, mouthwatering apples, scrumptious bread and jam tasters and other Quebec fruits and vegetables that tease the palate were on display at the downtown campus Friday, as part of a farmer’s market which concluded the first session of ASFA’s Green Week.

“I believe it’s important to have these events and have them frequently to raise awareness of what is happening around us,” Chad Walcott said, ASFA’s vice-president of external affairs and sustainability, referring to the sustainability and environment themed week of events.

Walcott said it was his first time participating in Green Week, and though there were bumps along the way, he was happy with the overall attendance and the reception of the events that took place. The point of the local farmers market, he said, is to encourage students to take a closer look at what is happening on campus and in their community.

“If we don’t (support) Quebec we will have less and less farms,” said Louis-Charles Faille, an employee

of Ferme des Petits Cailloux, which participated in the market.

Faille withstood the cold and stood behind his stand to sell his apples to Concordia students. He said he enjoyed going to these events ever since he got to talk to the consumers and got out of the fields for the day. Faille said that although the products were more expensive than what you could buy at a common supermarket, it was only because they had to ensure they were producing quality fruits that were more environmentally friendly.

Nadine, an employee of Les confitures de Jeannette who did not give her last name, agreed with Faille’s statement on the quality of these products, adding that the food tastes better than what is available in grocery stores.

She also noted that the benefit also reaches beyond the agricultural, noting that buying local “helps move the Quebec economy,” as the consumers are making a contribution to their community in helping local farmers and artisans in Quebec to survive.

She said that when students buy food grown in Quebec they encourage the local economy and are making an environmentally friendly choice.

Nadine also emphasized the social aspect of these markets saying: “Local Markets are also a place to encounter other people.” She explained that by talking to consumers and offering food samples to the buyer, these local vendors increase the overall positive experience of the markets.

“In the past people used to go to churches to meet,” Nadine said. “Now they go to local market.”

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/theconcordian

5

photo cap

Continued from cover ...

Bursary advertising not getting through, say students system of checks and balances in place.’’

Another obstacle for some students is the supporting documentation they must submit within one week of sending in their application.

As not all students have their parents’ income tax notice of assessments and proof of summer earnings close at hand, Stanbra emphasizes that each application is studied on a case-by-case basis. ‘’If there is a reason they have not submitted the proper documentation, they can explain it to the committee in a letter,’’ she says. ‘’But if all the documentation is not there, the application will be cancelled.’’

Due to a technical problem on the MyConcordia Portal, the deadline

for submitting supporting documentation has been pushed from Friday, Oct. 22 to Friday, Oct. 29, at 5 p.m.

A committee will meet in November to study and rank each application, before announcing the bursary recipients in early December. Seeing as the thousands of dollars going into the program comes primarily from alumni, Stanbra says the FAAO works closely with Alumni and Advancement to ensure that when a donor wishes to create a bursary, they not be too specific with the eligibility criteria. This, she says, allows more students to be eligible for a wider variety of bursaries.

Stanbra indicated that she would like to see an increase in donations for bursaries in the coming years.

campus

“

[The application process] is very long and tedious and it could become a barrier for some students.

Zhuo Ling, csu vp finance

McGill students rallied in front of the Leacock building during a senate meeting last week as part of a string of ongoing protests against the closure of the Architecture Café, a student-run food provider on campus. Students were also protesting their lack of representation in decisions made by the university administrators. Demonstrators outside were treated to free lunch, while some managed to enter the building, though they were unable to enter the senate meeting itself. Students are reportedly planning to protest each meeting until something is done about the café.

Photo by Cindy Lopez

Jay Ingram takes on climate change from a social psychology perspective

Daily Planet host says that analyzing why people didn’t believe climate change would help scientists formulate their message Renee Giblin Staff writer

An audience of Concordia students and faculty waited patiently for Canadian broadcaster Jay Ingram to take the stage last week, likely

expecting a discussion on the effects of Climate Change on the Earth. But the journalist and author surprised many in the crowd by addressing the problem of the environmental debate itself, and why people are biased towards believing their own truths rather the facts of global warming.

“The essence of the argument is not about data, but social psychology,” Ingram said.

The host of the Discovery Channel’s science news program Daily Planet pointed out that if people understood the scientific findings of global warming they would realize the earth is changing and that people are the main contributors to climate change. He said that North Americans admit that they do not know enough about global warming, but they distrust the sources

gathering the data.

“How you react to new information is determined,” Ingram explained, “[…] by where you are socially and culturally.”

Ingram sat in-front of his audience in the Hall building and argued that people are programmed to believe only certain sources. He said that when a person is presented with two sets of arguments that have authoritative sources refuting or agreeing with climate change, the person will automatically align themselves with the article that justifies their lifestyle. Ingram said no one wants to admit they are damaging the earth.

“Information is never just information,” Ingram said. “It always has to be matched to your set of opinions.”

Chad Walcott, the Arts and

Science Federation of Associations vice-president of external and sustainability, found it interesting that Ingram went as far as to say that biology determines the way people think about an issue. Ingram said that depending on where the person lives and who their parents are, they are biologically predetermined to think a certain way, evidencing this claim by using research from the United States about the brain activities of Democrats and Republicans.

Ingram said that researchers noticed the brains of each group reacted differently to the set of questions asked, and that the brain scans had a 70 per cent accuracy rate in determining if a person was Republican or Democrat.

Though, not everyone is locked into a position of thinking, Ingram added.

According to Ingram, the majority of Americans are not well informed about climate change and because of that if scientists learn how deliver their message they may convince the undecided.

Ingram remains sceptical that people will change if there is not an effort made to understand why climate change deniers think a certain way. He said understanding the background of a community can help scientist and environmentalist get their message across that the earth is in trouble.

He also said that for people to change their opinions they have to believe the authoritative person who relays the information.

“The most effective thing in this society is to elect someone who is going to do something,” Ingram said.

campus

University spends $35,000 on open house advertising

But administrators believe results are worth the cash as attendance jumps by 1,000 Brennan Neill Managing editor

Thousands of potential Concordia students filed into both campuses this past Saturday as the University held its annual open house. The event capped off an approximately month long advertisement campaign promoting Concordia to prospective students that amounted to total of $35,000 in ads, according to Chris Mota, Concordia’s director of communications.

The campaign included a heavy presence of ads on the Montreal metro, including posters and projected videos, as well as pamphlets sent to areas just outside of Montreal, and smaller ads promoting the event in post-secondary and CEGEP agendas.

This year’s open house saw approximately 3,500 students visit the Sir George Williams and Loyola campuses to talk to representatives of numerous programs. The number of attendees that visited this year

jumped from the last open house which only brought in about 2,500 people. Organizers were very pleased with the number and called this weekend’s open house the most successful ever.

Eirma Silva, who attended this past weekend’s open house, said she noticed the advertisements at her school and on the metro. “They were good and I saw a lot of them in different places,” she said. Silva added that she was also planning on attending open houses at McGill, UQAM and U de M. Last year proved to be an exception to the typical open house schedule followed by Concordia. After a decision to move the set date of open houses from the end of January to sometime in the fall, the university decided to hold two in 2009, one in January and a second in November.

This assured that there would not be an 18-month stretch between open houses. Both of the open houses were held in separate fiscal years but featured a smaller budget than previous years, Mota explained.

Consequently, this year’s open house was given the same overall budget as those held November and January of last year.

Shoshana Kalfon, academic counselor for student academic services, explained that the open houses are

About 3,500 students filed into both Concordia campuses for this fall’s open house. Photo by Brennan Neill not only to attract potential students but also to provide information.

“I think the admissions are going to come in regardless of the open house,” said Kalfon. “But it allows

people to meet with somebody and have their questions answered or to clarify the admission process.”

Mota said that “[Concordia] considers the [open houses] money well

spent” and that they are “an effective recruitment tool for the university.”

But Mota added that the budget for the open houses “will likely be cut again.”

life 6

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Write to the editor: life@theconcordian.com

SuperStitionS

Halloween tricks and treats Battling the evil eye After years of bad luck and sickness, this university student has had enough Melissa Como Contributor The evil eye is a curse that is placed upon someone by looking at him or her with dislike or envy. Its symptoms can include bad luck, sickness and even death. Concordia student Bianca Dale* has experienced all these things – well, except death. Dale is convinced that she has been a victim of this spell nearly her entire life.

And she has had enough.

The evil eye has been around for millennia.

Though it is rooted in the Middle East, it also quickly spread to Europe. Several Greek poets and philosophers, including Plato, referred to it in their works. Many believe that Socrates was a transmitter of the evil eye, as he regularly glanced at people in a suspicious manner. In fact, his followers were called Blepedaimones, which means “demon look,” a reference to the power Socrates had over them.

Though credence in the evil eye is nearly universal, it is especially prominent in Italy, where the curse is known as Malocchio. It is also well-known in Greece where it is referred to as Mati and where, particularly in small villages, the belief in the superstition is still strong. Dale, 22, feels doubly affected as she has an Italian father and a Greek mother. “It’s the worst,” she says.

Jealousy is the main cause of the evil eye.

Though anyone can be affected by the curse, its victims are primarily babies and young children – with childless, envious women casting the malevolent gaze.

“In Greek and Italian culture, sometimes people set a temporary evil eye on you which causes you to be violently ill for 12 to 14 hours. In a matter of minutes, your body temperature rises, you get extremely feverish, your skin gets cold and clammy and you feel like passing out,” Dale laments. “But instead, you barf out your insides until there’s nothing left. It’s a mysterious illness that comes and goes very quickly and I used to get this sort of thing all the time as a kid.”

Some cultures believe the evil eye is passed on unintentionally; others believe it is done deliberately, with certain people having an innate power, a malicious glance, that they can use to afflict victims at will. Dale believes the evil eye was placed upon her on purpose. “My theory is that one or both of my parents really pissed someone off when I was a baby, so to get back at them, the person decided to put a curse on me,” she says.

Dale explains that it is getting worse. “The curse is starting to affect my friends and family.

The forces at work here are really piling it on.

Just this summer, three of my friends’ cars broke down for no reason with me in the passenger seat,” she recalls. “One of those times, we were in the middle of nowhere and had to hitchhike at four in the morning.”

There is no specific cure to ward off the evil eye. An early method was pointing your index and pinky fingers towards the person whom you suspected was cursing you. This approach was even described in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula. Nowadays, the gesture makes

Graphics by Katie Brioux

an appearance at just about every heavy metal concert; Ronnie James Dio, of Black Sabbath fame, helped popularize the sign after he learned it from his Italian grandmother, who believed strongly in the evil eye.

Several cultures turn to jewelry to prevent being cursed. Many wear beads or charms that resemble a blue cartoon eye. These are said to act as a boomerang by shooting the evil glare back to the person that cast it. Italians wear a cornetti, a thin, horn-shaped charm that is sometimes painted red, resembling a hot pepper. Peppers, like garlic, are believed to ward off evil forces.

Greeks perform a xematiasma, a secret prayer usually recited by an older relative, like a grandparent. The prayer is repeated three times or until the demon comes out.

Dale has not yet tried to exorcise her evil eye. “Up until recently, I wasn’t sure I had it. I thought I just had a really bizarre case of bad

luck.” But Dale explains that lately the curse has gotten out of hand and she feels it is time to do something about it. “I am thinking of going to see this Greek witch lady my mom knows who specializes in the curse of the evil eye. I can’t talk about it more than that or I’ll jinx her cure,” she claims.

Though the evil eye superstition has impressively been passed on from generation to generation, it does not quite hold the same mystique it used to. Nowadays, you can buy an “evil eye hex remover” on eBay for $11 (with free shipping!).

Dale laughs at that solution. “Everyone knows that only a professional can remove the evil eye from you,” she says. “Duh.” *Name has been changed to prevent further affliction from the evil eye curse

party

Xposing Montreal’s hottest underground entertainment scene Indecent Xposure redefines Montreal’s party scene with their “sickest” Halloween party yet Amanda Dafniotis Contributor As one of the few English Montreal underground groups focused on promoting local talent, Indecent Xposure has helped discover musicians, fashion designers and other creative acts. Their blog has become an interactive space that is oriented around music, fashion, and culture.

“We’re sexually active, we’re daring, we’re pushing boundaries,” says Nick Younès, Indecent Xposure founder and second-year art history student at Concordia.

To celebrate their fifth year as one of Montreal’s most wild party planners and partygoers, Indecent Xposure has decided to throw an epidemic-themed bash. This year it’s all about viruses, infections, doctors and nurses; “You will feel like you are in a hospital that night,” promises Younès.

By showcasing local stars and uncovering unknown hot spots, Indecent Xposure is doing its share to help Montreal keep its wild

nightlife reputation alive.

Younès started Indecent Xposure with his partner, Aneta Wojtowicz, while working at CIXS, the Dawson College radio station.

Younès was recruited as a DJ at CIXS but was quickly promoted to secretary before becoming station manager. Indecent Xposure was created when a then 15-year-old Nick Younès was brainstorming ideas with the CIXS team. They were planning their first-ever radio party and needed a catchy name, when Younès came up with it.

A year later, while the station was undergoing drastic renovations, the Dawson shooting occurred. This event inspired Younès to get the company moving.

“I kind of pulled myself together and told myself that I’m going to work my ass off to make things happen before I turn 18.”

Since then, Younès has been marketing Indecent Xposure, finding sponsors, and recruiting motivated individuals. Initially, both Younès and Wojtowicz were in charge of organizing and promoting all the events

themselves. However, as Indecent Xposure grew, more help was needed. Finding motivated trendsetters was a fairly easy task, with many excited fans and friends happy to help out.

Though it was easy to convince others to join the group, one of the biggest challenges for the members of the team has been balancing school while trying to be fully invested in Indecent Xposure.

Both fashion editor Kendra Macgregor and marketing director Keenan Kelertas are Concordia students, but together they have worked hard to find the perfect balance, which sometimes includes inviting others to join in.

“We want people to know that they are always invited to join us,” said Younès. “We’re always looking for more people to volunteer for us and to work with us.”

With the current Indecent Xposure team determined to break all boundaries and to push Montreal’s culture to its limits, Younès is always looking to expand. Indecent

Xposure is currently exploring a multitude of areas, taking on various projects and making its mark on Montreal.

In this year’s Best of Montreal readers poll in the Mirror, Indecent Xposure scored big.

They won third place in both Best Local Blog category and Best Club Night category. As well, they received an honorable mention in the Best Promoter category.

The recognition is encouraging and Younès has a lot more planned for Montrealers. “The universe is the limit,” said Younès, who is working closely with his team on a magazine, clothing line, recording studio, tour company, and music video company, to name a few.

After five years of madness, Indecent Xposure seems to have mastered both blogging and partying. Rather than looking at others for inspiration, the team is set on being trendsetters. They come up with their own ideas and find that no one dares to be as crazy or adventurous as they are. “We are always one step ahead or one step aside,” says Younès.

This year’s Halloween party is no exception, with Indecent Xposure expecting a crowd of over a thousand.

If you are in need of some treatment, head to Epidemic, Indecent Xposure’s Halloween bash on Oct. 30. Make sure to register through triage at Griffintown Warehouse, 1314 Olier St. Tickets with free face mask are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.

They are being sold at Off the Hook, 1021 Ste-Catherine W. For more information visit their blog at www.indecentxposure.net

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/concordianlife dreSSing up

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

7

recipe

Costumes that won’t Recipes that will frighten your wallet have you goblin’ up Using token thrift store pieces to make cheap and creative Halloween costumes Natacha Medeiros Staff writer With Halloween taking place so close to midterms, not everyone has time to make an elaborate costume. Of course, there is always the option to hit up the Halloween mega sales that are advertised all around the city, but they can be expensive. Some of the prepackaged looks can cost up to $100, which can be pretty steep for something you will only wear once. Not to mention, you run the risk of being seen in the same Lady Gaga meat outfit as everyone else at your party.

Rather than worry, be thankful that Montreal is home to an abundance of thrift stores where it is easy to put together a fun, original and cheap costume that will be a guaranteed hit.

Rosie the Riveter

Rosie was the iconic 1940s symbol for women working in factories during the Second World War. She has a tough-girl look that you can easily make sexy, or keep classic. Plus, she is much more unique than all the flapper girls and Marilyn Monroes you are likely to see.

Get the look: The key to being Rosie the Riveter is in her signature bandana. You can use an old bandana you have lying around the house, or pick one up especially for the look. If you are

up shirt. If you’re unsuccessful in the racks, anything with a big floral will work. Next, find a pastel cardigan or sweater vest to pair on top. For bottoms, light shorts work well. Pick up a pair of high socks and pair them with sandals. Accessorize with a fanny pack, fake passport, visor, sunglasses, map and of course the compulsory camera around your neck.

Stuart

Boys, ignore the DJ Pauly D and Situation costumes you see around and ask yourself why would you want to be a juiced-up guido when you can be Stuart? Yes, the iconic character from Mad TV. (For those who do not know who Stuart is, go look up a YouTube skit right now) Not only are you guaranteed to have a good laugh, he makes for a pretty good Halloween costume.

Get the look: Buy a pair of tan or light coloured slacks and a colourful checkered button up shirt. These thrift store staples are easy to come by and can often be found in a range of sizes. This item does require one investment piece: a blonde wig. Give the wig a bowl cut, put on some makeup to make your face pale and pile some red blush onto your cheeks. The look would be incomplete if you neglect to walk around saying “Look what I could do!” followed by an awkward movement (you will get the hang of it after a few YouTube videos, promise).

These are just a few of the ways you can take really cheap items from thrift stores and work them into an affordable and creative costume.

The most important thing to remember is to accessorize and get in character. Have fun with the items you find and be original!

the pumpkin Two devilishly tasty treats that will make you gluttonous this Halloween season

Alyssa De Rosa Staff writer As cooler temperatures set in and the city becomes decorated by the changing colours of the leaves, it is time to indulge in one of autumn’s most decadent culinary pleasures: pumpkins.

With Halloween around the corner, pumpkins can easily be purchased in grocery stores all over the city. Some are painted, others carved and some are even used to decorate inside the home.

Filled with seeds, pumpkins are similar to squashes, tomatoes and cucumbers, and are scientifically considered fruit. However, in culinary terms a pumpkin can also be referred to as a vegetable. The distinction does not really matter, though, so long as we agree that its unique taste and culinary possibilities make it a worthy autumn ingredient.

Not all pumpkins are the same and finding the right one is important. The most popular choice is the sugar pie pumpkin and it is recommended to purchase the smaller, sweet pumpkins that have dark orange flesh. These are perfect for baking, cooking, or boiling.

Pumpkin seeds done spicy, sweet and simple To start off, the pumpkin must be emptied of its seeds. These seeds can make a tasty and healthy treat, but the prepackaged seeds at your local supermarket are loaded with sodium.

Instead, make your own at home.

Preparation and ingredients 1. Remove the seeds from the pumpkin and separate from the stringy insides.

2. Soak the seeds in cold water to clean them off. Once they are clean, place them on a towel and let dry.

3. Preheat oven to 350 F and coat any flat cooking pan with a low-fat cooking spray

Prom Queen runner-up

A staple in any thrift store is the prom dress.

But who wants to go as a pretty prom queen when they can be the disheveled, miserable, and messy runner-up?

Get the look: Find whatever prom dress you like in the thrift store. Remember, you’re runnerup so you can have a lot of fun with this look.

Tear it, rip it, and make it look messy! Pair it with some heels and your outfit is about done. The makeup is what makes this costume. Think running mascara, fake eyelashes, and faded lipstick.

Style your hair elaborately and then mess it up so that it’s completely unkept. Add a tiara if you wish, and a ripped-up sash for added effect.

Tourist

Although this idea may not seem so original, you can have a lot of fun with the cheesy tourist costume. You can be a single tourist, in a pair, or on a group vacation.

Get the look: Scour the thrift store racks to find a short-sleeved Hawaiian-themed button-

Where to shop Fripe-Prix Renaissance’s Boutique SaintJacques is a short 15-minute walk from the Loyola campus. This community boutique sells second-hand clothing that is worth checking out. They are open every day this week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. making it easy to pick-up some pieces before the weekend festivities begin. 7205 St. Jacques St. W., 514-484-0145.

Their Boutique Côte-des-Neiges is accessible from downtown by taking the 165 bus from the corner of Guy Street and de Maisonneuve Boulevard. It will take you straight to the Plaza’s entrance at 6700 Côte-des-Neiges Blvd.

For more information visit www. renaissancequebec.ca If you strike out at Renaissance, don’t worry. Take a short walk up the block and check out the Salvation Army located at 6180 Côte-des-Neiges Blvd. NDG’s location is a 105 bus ride away from Loyola. There are 10 locations in Montreal alone; visit www. thriftstore.ca/locations to find the one closest to you.

Village des Valeurs also has locations citywide, but this second-hand store specializes in Halloween costumes offering costume ideas on their website www.villagedesvaleurs.com, as well as selling pre-packaged costumes. Their closest location to campus is at 4906 Jean Talon St. W, 514-739-1962.

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Cut the pumpkin in half and make sure to remove the stem section and any stringy pulp you may have missed 3. In a shallow baking dish, place the two halves face down, covering with tinfoil 4. Bake for approximately one hour or until the pumpkin is tender 5. Remove pumpkin and let cool 6. Once cooled, scoop the cooked pumpkin from its skin and purée or mash it *Note: if you are in a rush, you can cut the pumpkin into chunks and microwave on high power for about seven to 10 minutes. Make sure to stop the microwave every so often and stir.

A traditional pumpkin pie with a twist Nothing that can compare to grandma’s homemade pumpkin pecan pie cake, which, unlike most pie recipes, does not have a crust.

Ingredients - 2 cups of pureed pumpkin - 1½ cups of evaporated milk - 3 large eggs - 1½ cups of sugar - 4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (this can be made at home combining 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg and 1/2 tsp ground allspice) - 1 pkg of yellow cake mix (can be replaced with pecan or vanilla pound cake mix as well) - 1 cup of chopped pecans - 1 cup of melted butter or margarine - Whipped cream *Note: For a healthier alternative, use two eggs and use unsalted butter.

Simple: For a more classic flavouring, place the seeds on oiled tray and sprinkle some salt.

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 F 2. Grease bottom of 9” by 13” by 2” pan 3. Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt in large bowl 4. Stir until blended and pour blended ingredients into the pan 5. Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture 6. Top with pecans and drizzle with melted butter or margarine.

7. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until golden 8. Cool completely and serve with whipped cream topping.

Directions 1. Bake for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.

2. Once baked, let cool for approximately five minutes before indulging in crunchy goodness.

Pumpkins come around for only a couple months a year so be sure to save and savour them them. Pumpkin purée can be kept in the refrigerator for about four days and frozen for up to six months.

Spicy: For seeds with an extra kick, place seeds on tray and sprinkle with a touch of cayenne pepper, dried thyme and a touch of sea salt.

looking for one that is quintessentially Rosie then go red with white polka dots. Next, pick up a blue button-up shirt. Denim can work for this look but keep it plain and looking like a collared work shirt. Pair it with black or blue pants and you are set. Remember, this look is all in the hair so make sure that it’s perfect! If you need some help, there are a lot of tutorials online teaching you how to get the hair and scarf combo just right. For a sexier look, throw on some heels and a swipe of red lipstick.

Preparing the pumpkin for cooking Now that the pumpkin has been emptied, it must be baked and puréed in order to be used in any recipe.

Sweet: For a sweeter version, sprinkle with cinnamon and a touch of sugar.

Graphics by Katie Brioux

8

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

campuS

theconcordian

Life as a student parent Juggling work, school and parenting comes with its share of challenges Anna Chigo Contributor Imagine waking up at 6:30 a.m. after sleeping for four short hours. You quietly creep out of your bedroom, cursing the creaky floor as your strategically step on less noisy parts of the hardwood in order to not wake your fouryear old daughter. Feeling energized after your morning yoga practice, you begin what you like to call the amazing race.

You wake up your child, head to the kitchen to turn on the kettle, shower, get yourself and then your daughter dressed.

You make a quick breakfast, slap on some mascara and zoom out of the house to catch the bus to your daughter’s daycare. Dropping her off with a hug and kiss, you catch the bus back downtown to get to work for 9 a.m.

After your morning shift, you have a few minutes to gobble up some lunch. You then head to your afternoon class, which ends at 4 p.m. giving you ample time to pick up your daughter from her daycare before 5:30 p.m.

You eat dinner, hang out at the park in the evening and put your child to sleep before finally sitting down to start your homework at 9 p.m.

Welcome to life as a student parent.

Walking through the crowded halls of Concordia University on any given day, you run into engineers, accountants, artists, environmentalists, activists and musicians. The student body at Concordia is diverse and it is not always easy to figure out who the student taking notes besides you in class really is.

In fact, many of us are unaware that among the ranks of graduate and undergraduate students exists a group of student parents.

As a student parent myself, I rarely encounter others who are dividing their time between being a parent and being a student.

Based on my own experience, I know that the challenges student parents face are numerous.

According to Kristy Heeren, the director of Concordia University Student Parents Centre, there are three main challenges student parents face.

“The biggest challenge is financial,” says Heeren. “Many student parents are single parents who feel the financial strain of having extra mouths to feed, or they are international students who can’t work.”

Heeren explains that the second challenge she hears from student parents at CUSP is a lack of childcare resources. “There is a shortage of flexible, affordable childcare,” explains Heeren. “There are very few parttime childcare options, so outside of regular daycare opening hours, parents have no help with childcare. Although private and evening daycares do exist, they are expensive.”

The third and most straining challenge student parents face, according to Heeren, is emotional strain. “They don’t have the same options to meet other students, and to go out,” states Heeren. “Many student parents struggle with isolation and loneliness, especially single parents, and international students who are new to the city.”

Hearing Heeren recount challenges that are part of my personal experience was comforting, because they are things I always imagined to be private and exceptional. I now saw they were quite common among student parents.

In order to overcome some of these hardships, some student parents seek assistance at CUSP which is located at the downtown campus. The centre offers a resource room for student parents to come use freely, either to work or relax in. They also offer psychological support and heath promotion services.

“In terms of finding a community of people and a database of resources, we have

the CUSP drop-in center, which has over two hundred members,” says Heeren.

CUSP was an idea initiated by dean of students Elizabeth Morey. The centre, which supports initiatives in areas of student life and services at Concordia, is a great first step for Concordia towards providing services for student parents. Despite trying to be as available and helpful as possible, one area that remains a common problem for student parents is finding adequate childcare.

“When it comes to finding part-time childcare, there is nothing I can point you towards, except maybe Craigslist or your friends and family,” admits Heeren.

Currently, there is one childcare centre on each campus that is open to the children of staff, faculty and students. But, with limited space, finding a spot for your child is anything but easy. According to research by Tricia Van Rhijn and Donna S. Lero for the University of Guelph, student parents account for close to 11 per cent of the total student population in Canadian universities. That means close to 5000 students at Concordia University are parents. With only 50 spaces available at the childcare centres on campus, there is an abundance of student parents whose needs are not being met, especially since priority is given to children of faculty members.

“Student parents at Concordia should be given priority for daycare spots, because it’s hard to even get on the waiting list for a spot,” says a Concordia student and single parent who is still unable to find a daycare for her 11-month-old daughter.

Recognizing the challenges student parents face and the need for an improvement of student services at Concordia, the dean of students office took action by hiring sociologist Malene Bodington to oversee the implementation of a university-wide survey. The survey aims to study the student parent population at Concordia to find out the challenges and needs of this student population. With the results, they hope to learn how the university can take action towards serving the student parent population more effectively.

“A lot of [the challenges] come down to isolation,” says survey designer Bodington.

As a mother herself, she notes that it helps to know that there are other parents who are going through the same thing. Bodington stresses that student parents should be aware that Concordia has many services available for them such as the Counseling and Development Centre and CUSP, especially because of its function as a resource centre CUSP helps because it is a place where student parents can get together and see how others in similar situations balance parenting and school. As CUSP members, student parents have the chance to get involved in events such as monthly cook-outs, clothing, toy and babysitting exchanges, while making friends with other student parents in the process.

For many student parents, their family and friends play a big support role in their lives.

But for student parents without families close by, being part of a community can ward off the feeling of separation. In my own life, I have gained a support network though my volunteering as a yoga teacher which has allowed me to move through my days with confidence, despite the lack of family support in the city.

In addition to the CUSP resource centre, student parents can now also become involved in CUSP’s newly formed Student Parents Association. SPA, which is still in its beginning stages, will be the first student association run solely by parents who wish to implement services for parents and their children.

Student parents can drop by CUSP at 2150 Bishop St. Dean of students Elizabeth Morey is holding a “Meet the Dean” event Oct. 27, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in H-637 where students will have chance to make suggestions concerning student services at Concordia.

An employee at the Concordia University Student Parents Centre sits in the resource room where parents can come work and relax. Photo by Tiffany Blaise

The Grey Nuns building hosts not only first-year students living in residence, but also one of two Concordia daycares that serve faculty, staff and students. Photo by Matias Garabedin

arts

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

9

Write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com cinema politica

Stolen’s modern-day slavery controversy Australian filmmakers find a nasty surprise in the Sahara Valerie Cardinal Arts editor In 2006, Australian filmmakers Violeta Ayala and Dan Fallshaw went to a Polisario refugee camp in the Western Sahara expecting to film a family reunion. While on their final visit, they stumbled upon evidence of slavery.

In less than 10 days, they had completely changed the topic of their documentary.

“We found something that wasn’t supposed to be found out,” said Ayala.

The rest of Stolen follows Ayala and Fallshaw as they uncover the truth behind slavery in the Western Sahara, a journey that leads them through three continents, a detainment and dozens of smuggled videocassette tapes.

The Western Sahara is a region of conflict.

Moroccan takeover of the territory in the 1970s caused many Sahrawis, people from the Western Sahara, to flee to the deserts, where they still live now in refugee camps run by the Polisario, a Sahrawi national liberation front and the government of the area. The Western Sahara is also one of the few regions in Africa where Spanish is spoken.

Stolen is a real-life thriller, but at the centre of it lies a human story. That story is Fetim, a black Sahrawi in a mostly Arab refugee camp.

She lives with her three daughters, but hasn’t seen her own mother in over 30 years, when they were separated while fleeing the Moroccan occupation.

Fetim has been allowed to reunite with her mother for five days, thanks to a UN program that hopes to ease tensions between Morocco and the Polisario. In the time before the re-

Stolen reveals that black Sahrawis like Fetim (above right, with children) still live in modern slavery. union, Ayala and Fallshaw noticed that Fetim seemed to be doing the housework both for her household and that of a woman Fetim’s daughter referred to as her “white grandmother,” without pay.

Discrimination became even more evident when Ayala and Fallshaw showed their footage to a Polisario leader. According to Ayala, he jokingly commented: “Fetim’s younger daughter looks like a monkey.” Ayala claimed Leil, Fetim’s 15-year-old daughter, broke the silence about slavery in the area. In the film, Leil tells Ayala, “Here, no one goes to jail for having slaves.”

Ayala and Fallshaw were shocked. “I came here believing in the Polisario’s cause,” narrated Ayala in the film. “It didn’t make any sense to me that a liberation movement fighting for freedom appeared to condone slavery.”

Since its release one year ago, the movie has become controversial, with attempts by the Polisario and its supporters to discredit it.

Fallshaw explained that most of the allegations of falsehoods come from the translation.

However, Bolivian-born Ayala exclaimed, “70 per cent of the discussions of slavery are in Spanish.”

Ayala and Fallshaw insist Stolen does not have a political agenda. “The film isn’t against the Polisario, it just says that slavery is a problem,” stated Ayala. “All we’re asking is to listen to the film and take action, but they’re blaming the messenger,” Fallshaw added.

The Polisario even sent Fetim to the premiere of the documentary in Sydney, Australia. “We weren’t surprised, but it was a very strange situation,” said Dan. “The last

time we saw her, we were living with her.”

Ayala said she would joke with Fetim about traveling to festivals for the film; the situation felt oddly ironic.

However, Ayala believes things can change in the Western Sahara. “If there’s a place where this issue can be resolved first, it’s in this place.” According to her, the Polisario depends on international aid, and there is a possibility for countries to give the liberation front more conditions for receiving this aid.

“It’s time everyone who knows takes responsibility,” Ayala concluded.

Stolen will be playing at Cinema Politica Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. in H-110 and will include a virtual Q&A with the directors. For more information, check out www.cinemapolitica.org.

campus

Concordia gets an earful from Stelarc Performance artist presents “Ear in Arm” in vernissage and lecture Amanda Dafniotis Contributor An ear implanted in an arm, who would have thought? Since the 1960s, Australian performance artist Stelarc has been redefining art by pushing the boundaries of the human body. Stelarc brought his latest body modification to Concordia’s CJ building last week to clarify the purpose of having an ear surgically implanted in his arm.

The ear is both a surgical construct and a cell grown ear. However, don’t be fooled; his normal hearing is perfect. After the ear is complete, Stelarc plans to insert a microphone connected to a wireless transmitter.

The Internet would enable the ear if located in a Wi-Fi hotspot. Stelarc said that while in

Montreal one could listen in on what the ear was hearing in London. “It is not a hearing device for me but rather a transmitting device,” he said. “It is an acoustical organ for people in other places.”

Stelarc has been exploring the idea of recolonizing the human body, which he finds very seductive. “I’ve always been interested in the human body as a kind of evolutionary architecture,” said Stelarc. He enjoys exploring how technology is becoming a component of the human body, rather than something the body rejects.

The 53-year-old performance artist is best known for his suspensions, where he hangs himself up in art galleries, over oceans, city streets, trees and more all over the world using fish hooks through his skin. The artist designed a mechanical third hand activated by muscle signals. Stelarc also had a sculpture, or as he likes to put it, a “machine choreography,” placed in his stomach. The sculpture would open and close, and emit light and sound.

Stelarc’s passion and commitment were apparent in his lecture. His comfort with his work and explanation of the whole process made his art more accessible and less repul-

sive. Stelarc’s lecture became an interactive one when he allowed audience members to ask questions to a virtual replica of his own head.

“The Head,” programmed by Stelarc, is made to answer questions based on how Stelarc would answer them in real life. At one point, Stelarc insulted “The Head,” to which it responded: “I will remember you said that when robots take over the world.” The lecture made Stelarc’s work more accessible to those otherwise unfamiliar with it. “It is basically an extension of tattoos or regular body modifications, just pushing it to the next level,” said Max Bianchi, a first-year communication studies student at Concordia. “It is just changing the human form.”

Thursday night’s exhibit didn’t just bring out curious Concordia students.

David Johnson, also known as Jhave, a web curator, independent media-arts practitioner and member of arts and technology research network FLUXMEDIA also attended.

He described Stelarc as a “catalyst for newer ideas.” Being a performance artist is tricky, because it is easy for people to reject anything that is foreign or unknown. Stelarc’s work is unconventional but that doesn’t make it any

less influential. People recognize his work and acknowledge that he has been pushing the boundaries consistently for years.

“All these things that we thought of as magical technologies are slowly becoming normal,” said Jhave. Stelarc’s work may not be traditional, but isn’t that the beauty of art and its subjectivity? “It’s the beginning of something very strange in our lives,” stated Jhave. “Something unknown in the history of civilization.”

The body needs more surveillance systems on the inside because it isn’t aware of what’s going on, argued the artist. “Imagine if a nano sensor can detect the first indication of pathological changes. Then you would be alerted very early on and you might be able to treat these medically.” His idea is that one will be able to redesign the human body, “with the individual having the choice of what to do and how their body might look and function.

For someone who claims to have started on this path when he realized that he was a bad painter in art school, Stelarc has come a long way. No one knows what the future holds, though all can agree that the line between the human body and technology is definitely being blurred.

10

theconcordian

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

theatre

Medea should have stayed in ancient Greece Minimalist production by Scapegoat Carnivale Theatre is a letdown Adam Avrashi Contributor The Greek tragedy Medea was first performed in 431 BC, and judging by Scapegoat Carnivale Theatre’s new production, it should have stayed in that century.

Medea is a woman scorned. Her husband left her and her two kids for a new woman (who happens to be the daughter of King Kreon, no less). Adding insult to injury, she is also being kicked out of her homeland. After some begging, she is granted one day more to tie up loose ends. But Medea is only concerned with the end of her ex-husband’s happiness.

She plots to poison his wife-to-be and kill her own two sons, ensuring her former partner will forever be childless.

As staged by Scapegoat Carnivale, Euripides’ Medea has a difficult time connecting with audiences. All the drama happens offstage; we never meet King Kreon’s daughter or see any of Medea’s evil plans come to life -- we only hear about them. Then, while we hear about how Medea poisoned the princess, we are left to stare at a sparse black stage. At that point, might as well make it a radio drama.

Thankfully the performances are strong all around. As Medea, France Rolland stomps around stage and plots her evil plan with true conviction, although she seemed to remain on the same level of intensity throughout, which took away a bit from her final act of infanticide.

Her cheating husband Jason, played by Andreas Apergis (who also co-directed), expertly plays a full spectrum of emotions, from the disgruntled ex-husband to the grieving and desperate man left with no one to love.

Despite a strong performance by France Rolland (left) as Madea, Scapegoat Carnivale’s Medea failed to impress. Photo by writer Also co-directing is Alison Darcy, whose father, former Centaur artistic director Maurice Podbrey, plays the bit role of Aeyeas, who promises to give Medea refuge in his country.

Podbrey should get his own show at Centaur, as his charms and regal white locks are wasted as they appear in barely 10 minutes of stage time.

The final scene where Medea takes the lives of her two children quite literally brings the stage walls crashing down. This is meant to convey Medea’s strength. Really, it is a cue to wake up and get ready to go home.

The only new twist to this production is the addition of a five-woman Greek chorus who sing and dance to the music of a three-piece string trio seated on the stage’s second tier. The chorus, including Concordia alumni Lindsay Wilson and Stephanie Buxton, provides some levity in between scenes and partakes in the action by advising Medea throughout her plight. The velvet-voiced Holly Gauthier-Frankel (better known as her burlesque alter-ego Miss Sugarpuss) was also a chorus girl, giving audiences something to look forward to as her one-woman show Miss Sugarpuss Must Die!

hits the Centaur stage in the new year.

A relatively new company, Scapegoat Carnivale Theatre has been around for four years, and it surprises me that they would show a Greek tragedy as opposed to something more contemporary. I’m not saying that we need to see another production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, but it is difficult for audiences to care one way or another about a show that shares very little connection with the modern world.

Medea plays at Centaur Theatre until Oct. 28-30. Student tickets are $16.

film

Scream yourself silly with these picks The scariest movies ever made from Evil Dead to Zombie Melissa Como Contributor A college professor once told me that the definition of a good horror movie is to be “sitting alone in the dark, scared shitless.” Fear is undoubtedly one of the strongest emotions a person can experience, and one of the hardest for a film to elicit. Not all horror movies are scary. Some have a campy, comedic feel to them, like Evil Dead; some are too outdated to be terrifying nowadays, like the 88-year-old classic Nosferatu, and others just plain suck, like the majority of the past decade’s releases. The movies listed below are so bloodcurdling they will make you want to slowly impale your eyeball with a wooden shard just to avoid watching them. Oops, that’s a scene from Zombie.

Filmmaker Robby Reis’s favourite horror movie is The Exorcist. “The pacing of this film is so slow,” he explains. “It draws out on the feeling of impending evil to the point where you’re begging for something terrifying to finally happen… and then when it happens, you wish you weren’t witnessing it.” Repeatedly labeled one of the scariest movies ever, The Exorcist is so disturbing that at the time of its 1973 release, theatres handed out barf bags to customers. “I

Robby Reis

Jean-François Leblanc

Nick Brygidyr

still have never seen the entire film from beginning to end. It horrifies me way too much,” said Reis.

Jean-François Leblanc, a clerk at Montreal’s La Boîte Noire video rental chain, considers the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre to be the creepiest movie of all time. Why does it deserve this title? Several factors come into play: “its rawness, it being shot with a 16mm camera and the fact that one girl screams for like 20 minutes,” he explained. The movie’s explicit violence actually got it banned in over 10 countries.

Slasher films can be terrifying as well. “The first Halloween movie is a masterpiece,” stated filmmaker-animator Elisa Gentile. “Up until this very day when I see someone dressed as Michael Myers, I can feel the hair behind my neck rise like it did the first time I saw the

movie,” she shared. Gentile attributed her fear of the movie to its combination of the right amount of suspense and gore and its now iconic soundtrack.

Horror movie enthusiast Nick Brygidyr insisted that a film doesn’t have to be wellknown for it to be among the scariest. His pick is Guinea Pig 2: Flowers of Flesh and Blood. This Japanese horror flick escapes its cheesy title by providing viewers with nothing but 45 minutes worth of gore. It’s so realistic that upon seeing it, actor Charlie Sheen mistook it for an authentic snuff film and contacted the FBI. “The movie has no plot, really. It’s about a man dressed as a samurai warrior, slowly dismembering a woman tied to a bed. Extremely graphic; definitely not a make-out movie,” said Brygidyr.

As for me, I’m going to have to go with The Shining. As I’m generally petrified of children,

those twins just about make me cry. Despite its now classic status, the film initially received lukewarm reviews; even Stephen King, whose novel the movie is based on, hated it. It even earned director Stanley Kubrick a nomination for Worst Director at the Razzies, an awards show distributed to the worst movies in Hollywood. When I worked in a video store, I constantly recommended The Shining to anyone requesting a scary movie (unless they were rude, in which case I suggested something along the lines of Gigli).

So, if the thought of spending Halloween night partying with provocatively costumed women and obnoxious drunk bros makes you want to puke into a dog dish and feed it to them (oops, that’s a scene from Odishon), any of these films would provide a suitable alternative.

Spoiler alert: people die in all of them.

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/concordianarts

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

11

fashion

Quebec designer’s creations are “simultaneously elegant and futuristic” Savannah Sher Assistant life editor The work of celebrated Quebec fashion designer Denis Gagnon is the subject of the latest exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibit, which opened on Oct. 19, is the first of its kind to celebrate a designer from Quebec.

“Not everyone gets the opportunity to go to runway shows,” said Stéphane Aquin, the curator of the exhibit being held in the Contemporary Art Square of the museum. “This is a rare opportunity for people to see couture up close.”

The exhibit covers every step of the design process, from the raw materials, to the garments themselves, to the finished products on the catwalk. On the walls are oversized closeups of the materials Gagnon uses in his designs, including zippers, chains and fringe.

Also on the wall is an intricately drawn blueprint of the designer’s basement atelier.

The subdued lighting and haunting music combined with mannequins suspended from the ceiling give the entire exhibit an eerie feel.

Gagnon partnered with architect Gilles Saucier to put the display together, using a

Key pieces of Denis Gagnon’s current work are displayed throughout the exhibit. Photo by Christine Guest large inverted pyramid to project videos of his runway shows and backstage footage of the designer prepping models in the final moments before they walk out.

The exhibit is not a retrospective of Gagnon’s career but rather a display of his current works arranged into four themes; stripes, chains, zippers and fringe. The pieces being displayed are more works of couture than garments you would see on the street.

Gagnon’s unconventional designs are simultaneously elegant and futuristic. There are several dresses made entirely of bronze zippers and others constructed with a combination of lace and chains. The stripes are both graphically nautical and zebra print, sometimes even within the same outfit. The garments are all very sensual, simultaneously revealing and concealing. According to Aquin, they are made to look best on real women with natural curves rather than emaciated models.

514-484-4884 6265 St. Jacques Ouest Only 5 minutes from Loyola Campus !!

The showcase of Gagnon’s work is appropriately placed between two other fashion exhibitions at the MMFA: the 2008 Yves Saint Laurent show and the upcoming display of couturier Jean Paul Gaultier’s work next summer. Aquin stated that Gagnon occupies the space between the extreme refinement of Saint Laurent and the punk aesthetic of Gaultier.

Aquin insists that there is no reason why fashion shouldn’t be considered one of the fine arts. “When I look at these pieces, I see art,” he said. “Some of them just take your breath away.”

Aquin asserted that Gagnon’s “approach to form, colour, shape and material is no different that that of a traditional artist.”

It is in fact surprising that it took so long for modern fashion to be recognized in the fine arts scene, said Aquin. He maintains that just because something has a known function, that doesn’t mean it is not art. Aquin,

THE WORLD’S LEADER IN WOMEN’S FITNESS

who claims he is no fashionista, stated, “institutions change, our understanding of what art is changes.”

“I find [Gagnon’s] work so moving, it’s amazingly expressive and evocative.”

Gagnon has been instrumental in Canadian fashion for the past decade, but has somehow never managed to break out into the international scene. A major museum exhibit like this one might help give his brand the recognition it deserves.

Denis Gagnon Shows All is running until Feb. 13 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, 1380 Sherbrooke St. W. Admission is free.

514-481-3434 5456 Westminster Ave. Only 5 minutes from Loyola Campus !!

12

theconcordian

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

film

The legend of Rocky Horror lives on in “North America’s G-Spot” The 35th anniversary showcases how much, and how little, has changed since original release Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo Assistant arts editor

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a combination of many things: part rite of passage, part ultimate movie-going experience, and for Montrealers, part of a Halloween weekend chock-full of festivities. It is also one big paradox.

Philippe Spurrell has produced the show for the past 12 years. He describes the original 1975 film as a “unique beast,” yet every year, hundreds of fans gather to perpetuate, and add to, the phenomenon.

That all started with Richard O’Brien’s 1973 play The Rocky Horror Show, which was adapted to the big screen two years later. However, as any connoisseur will tell you – and producer Spurrell certainly fits that bill – the original release was not an instant success. After 20th Century Fox relegated it to the midnight showings, it gained a reputation for being wild and over the top (as did its audience) and the following grew.

2010 is a milestone year for Rocky Horror, as the movie celebrates its 35th anniversary. Its original fans are older still, but the mythology they created continues to grow.

It’s difficult to pinpoint how a film that is so obviously a product of its era has managed to retain relevance. “The film particularly [...] relates to sexuality, sexual orientation, and so on,” Spurrell remarked. While the subject matter remains timeless, many other things have changed in the 35 years that have elapsed.

For one, with the rise of pay-per view

Left: Tim Curry’s portrayal of extraterrestrial transvestite Dr. Frank-N-Furter (centre) in the 1975 film has helped the film reach iconic status.

Right: Plastik Patrik is the host of the Montreal production of Rocky Horror Picture Show, which includes a costume contest and a live cast. services and the Internet, fewer people are making the trip to the theatre, a trend that Spurrell is attempting to combat: “One of my major philosophies of life is just trying to get people together,” he said. “I guess it’s another reason why I’m excited about Rocky Horror Picture Show -- because it’s something that people actually get out of the house and get together for.”

The generalized decrease in ticket sales in the movie industry has not affected the annual event. Attendance has risen in the 12 years that Spurrell has produced the show.

Spurrell noted that a contributing factor to its continued success in Montreal is the city’s cemented status as one of the most open in North America. “Early on one of our cast members came up with the term ‘Montreal is North America’s G-Spot,’” he quipped.

Spurrell made the conscious choice to only show it once a year in Montreal, as opposed

book

to other North American cities.

However, Montreal faces a unique problem: the language barrier. As Spurrell pointed out, “It’s more of a phenomenon amongst Englishspeaking people,” although he’s made efforts to attract more francophones.

Thankfully for the crowd, “sex is a kind of universal language,” so even if non-English speakers don’t catch all the call-back lines, the gist of the story is understood by all.

Not only does Rocky Horror transcend language, it also continues to unite people of all ages. Spurrell noted that parents will bring their 10- or 12-year-old children to the show.

He always takes care to point out that content is sometimes risqué, but the parents are unfazed: “They say, ‘You can see a lot worse on the Internet.’ If a five-year-old can download hardcore porn what’s a little titty flash on stage? It’s no big deal, really.”

First-timers need not be worried. Spurrell

estimates that one half to two-thirds of audience members are so-called Rocky Horror virgins. He advises newbies to consult the website for a rundown of things to bring. Costumes are encouraged, as there is a costume contest before the beginning of the movie.

Spurrell also recommends that people go to the Thursday and Friday night showings, as Halloween night tends to be packed.

Even if the reasons for its enduring popularity remain baffling, one aspect of The Rocky Horror Picture Show will never change: “It’ll be one big, big party.”

The Rocky Horror Picture Show Halloween Ball will be held at the Rialto TheatreOct. 28 – 31. For show times and ticket prices, consult www.rockyhorrormontreal. com. In light of the 35th anniversary, the Thursday night showing will offer a reduced ticket price for all students.

photo

Larissa Andrusyshyn’s The olive wars snapshot of Mammoth makes a huge impact Apolitical and Montreal writer participates in Co-op Bookstore’s reading series Jennifer Amell Contributor Finally, a poet for biologists, geneticists and physicists, or for those who feel that lately modern poetry has been too wrapped up in self-conscious sentiments. Concordia master’s degree candidate Larissa Andrusyshyn focuses the microscope on the relationship between art and science, loss and expression, Darwin and the human impulse in her newly published poetry anthology, Mammoth. Andrusyshyn appeared for a reading at Concordia Co-op Bookstore’s Local Legends Reading Series.

Mammoth is a stunning and inventive study in concise, efficient language. It seeks to express the wish of those who suffer incomprehensible loss to quantify emotion in principles of physics.

If it is not to gain perspective, it is to better understand principles of human nature. The book’s loose narrative follows the lumbering, yet sympathetic mammoth character from his discovery in the Siberian permafrost, as he walks among CroMagnon exhibits at museums, as he first goes to school, becomes a geneticist, and contemplates the world that exists in the petri dish.

Andrusyshyn explained her fascination with surrealism in Grumpy’s Bar on Bishop Street, nursing a pint, talking excitedly. The mammoth, she said, is a surrealist device to explore social assimilation; he is trying to find himself

in a world 35,000 years after his time. Having experienced the loss of her father at an early age, Andrusyshyn’s uses her mammoth as a liaison between extinction and the fascination with which we treat the extinct. The mammoth’s bizarre actions highlight the absurdity of loss and grief. When trauma steals away words, Mammoth uses numbers, formulas and probabilities that calculate the unlikeliness of life and the subsequent likeliness of death.

With highly stylized, innovative imagery and effective experiments with syntax, Andrusyshyn is liable to bring readers to their knees. It is easy to get lost in the quirkiness of the mammoth, but the themes addressed in Mammoth register at a visceral level. If the beast can struggle with the human need to bring order into chaos, then so can we and so can the poet.

When asked if Montreal has any particular impact on her writing, Andrusyshyn answered that her characters exist in a kind of “netherspace” where time and specificity of place are not important. However, she did hint that any city offers material for the artist. Montreal is a microcosm bustling with carbon-based species and sub-species that beg a closer look with the precise eye of a poet or a scientist. These are walking experiments, representations of principles, living, breathing examples of cells splitting rapidly in petri dishes.

Mammoth is Andrusyshyn’s first poetry collection for which she has been shortlisted for the Quebec Writer’s Federation First Book Award.

Her work has appeared in publications such as Versal, Headlight, The Future Hygienic, and Rogue Stimulus.

You can pick up a copy of Mammoth at the Co-Op Bookstore, 2150 Bishop St.

social unrest in the West Bank Emilie Salvi Contributor

There is no exception to the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” When looking at the photo above, a cluster of words come to mind: chaos, disorder and injustice. In the middle of a field, an olive tree stands, against all odds.

Valerian Mazataud, a French photojournalist and former Concordian staff photographer, who is now based in Montreal, is presenting his photo exhibit Palestine, the Olive Wars at Espace Projet until Oct. 28.

The exhibit includes 11 photographs that reveal the violence brought about by the conflicts between the Israeli and Palestinian people. The olive trees located in the West Bank are being

cut down, burned and destroyed, while harvests are being stolen. The reason for this devastation is the enduring animosity between Israel and Palestine.

The artist’s photographs are stunning, from hefty, tall trees to images of Palestinian civilians and soldiers to surrounding greenery. His careful composition encapsulates the essence of his project: a torn civilization in dire need of rescue.

Each photograph, with its earth tone colors and serious subject, takes the viewer by the hand and guides them carefully through Mazataud’s travels. Throughout his stay in Palestine during Oct. and Nov. 2009, he taught photography classes for the NGO Project Hope in Nablus, West Bank, where he collaborated with other NGOs and built significant contacts.

“Palestine is the knot of contemporary global issues,” Mazataud stated affirmatively. The olive gathering was once a cheerful tradition maintained among the people of Palestine. It brings together the Mediterranean people by representing peace and maintaining traditional values.

Story continued at www.theconcordian.com

music

13

Write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com duets

Boy/girl duets: telling both sides of the story Exploring the musical trend and appeal of duets Dominique Daoust Contributor Music tells a story and lets musicians display their emotions. In the case of boy and girl duets, each singer tends to express their point of view about the same situation. As of late, there has been a re-emergence of this trend which has not gone unnoticed -- it’s becoming so prevalent in our society that there appears to be a new boy/girl band around every corner.

Most recently, the Australian duo Angus and Julia Stone have come onto the scene with their own brand of acoustic folk-pop.

Musical partners as well as siblings, their main appeal is based on the differences created by their opposing genders.

“I suppose there is a nice balance in hearing both male and female voices,” explains Julia. “When you hear them singing in harmony, there is something interesting about the different tones and how they can blend together.” These groups share vocal and instrumental duties, creating a certain type of boy-meets-girl tension that is not often found in other more homogeneous bands.

While of late there have been dozens of duet groups out there like The White Stripes, The Kills, and The Moldy Peaches, this kind of gender-oriented duo is not a new occurrence. As far back as one can look, there have been innumerable boy/girl duets.

The 1950s saw the likes of Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe singing onscreen with countless co-stars. In a more recent film context, who can forget Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta’s iconic songs from Grease?

In the ‘60s, mainstream music became a duet battleground where popular artists could pair up to fight their way up the charts with cutesy love tunes. These became all the rage with hits from Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and even Marvin Gaye who sang the motown hit “It Takes Two” with Kim Weston in 1965.

Many even caused controversy, such as the Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin track “Je t’aime...moi non plus” which featured orgasm sounds and the lyrics “I come and I go in between your loins.” Let’s just say the French population of 1969 didn’t appreciate it too much.

In contemporary times, examples of musical duets can be seen in album collaborations such as 0 and 9 by Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan, or in individual tracks like “Train Song” by Feist and Ben Gibbard, featured on the compilation mix Dark Was The Night.

Duets are so common that it is almost always possible to find something which may appeal to every type of music lover.

Borrowing from the musical work of the past decades, groups in the new millenium have expanded to create something different and original.

Canada’s own synth-pop duo We Were Lovers consists of Ash Lamothe and Elsa Gebremichael. “We’ve only been a duo for less than a year and we’ve noticed a huge spike in chemistry and interaction on stage versus when we were a full band,” Gebremichael explains. “We only have each other and gravitate towards one another without thought and without control. It’s completely automatic. We engage each other on stage and in turn we feel [it] engages our audience which, to put it simply, makes us very happy.”

Lamothe and Gebremichael feel that duets

Australia’s Angus & Julia Stone create natural chemistry. Photo by Joshua Morris are appealing to listeners because the format possesses an intrigue which cannot be created in bands of four or five people. Two artists who collaborate create an intimacy resembling sexual tension, which the audience picks up on.

For Angus and Julia Stone, the live show is a unique experience in itself. “I think it’s impossible to not have some kind of chemistry with the people you are on stage with,” Julia says. “It’s the nature of music that your mind and body are releasing all kinds of chemicals that are tripping you out. I know for us when we are all together up on stage we are all on other planets. Sometimes we are on the same planet and at other times we are totally on different planets.”

Putting the performance aspect aside, the songwriting process can also add an interesting aspect to the sound of a boy/girl duo.

“Our songwriting can happen a few different ways.” Gebremichael says. “[One of] us will have an initial idea, whether it’s a guitar part or a vocal line and we expand on it.

Other times, Ash will have a song idea with a few parts to it and I’ll write lyrics and a vocal melody or vice versa and we’ll work out the arrangements and extras together.”

On the other hand, the Stones view songwriting as a chance for some alone time. “We write our songs separately,” says Julia. “The songs that Angus sings, he writes, and the songs I sing, I write. We have collaborated on a couple of different occasions and that was fun. Mostly, though, for us, writing is our time to be apart from each other and from anyone else.”

Yet, it is clear that all forms of duets, from independent collaborations to boy/girl bands, have one underlying purpose: creating something of substance that has a real meaning to listeners. Life is full of events that can be viewed in varied ways, depending on who is telling the story.

That’s why they’re so prevalent in today’s society: duets tell all sides of a story listeners can relate to. And they will only expand in popularity as people search for music that resonates with their experience of the intricacies of human life.

Win the chance to see Angus and Julia Stone at Le National on Oct. 29. Head to

We Were Lovers’ Ash Lamothe and Elsa Gabremichael engage each other physically and creatively. Photo by Amber Bucholz www.theconcordian.com and find the “It’s More Than Gold, Guns and Girls” article.

Email us at music@theconcordian.com and

let us know which photo appears only in the online version of the article. Contest ends Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. Good luck!

14

theconcordian

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

hip hop

It’s more than gold, guns and girls The decline of political hip hop in popular music Mathieu Barrot Contributor Hip hop used to belong to the group that spread the message of revolution. The so-called “Golden Age” of hip hop is associated with the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

This was a time that saw the rise of bands like The Goats and Public Enemy, who lit up the stages and more importantly, people’s interest with social, political and cultural messages. This was music that spoke to the underprivileged and was then transmitted to the world through boom boxes and mixtapes.

Yet, the social impact of hip hop seems to be waning more every year. The breakout artists of mainstream media have less to say about social issues by the minute and now spend their energy glorifying violence and the so-called “rap lifestyle”. Consequently, true hip hop has taken refuge in the underground.

Even though the zenith of political hip hop may be over, a small number of artists continue to bring their cultural message to listeners.

Mostly restricted to smaller venues, a plethora of politically-charged musicians are still representing their cause to a diminishing, but active crowd. Local MC, former member of hip-hop group Shades of Culture and host of the Off The Hook radio program on CKUT, Orion Revolution Curiel is an active supporter of message-oriented rap.

“One voice alone is asking for trouble, but one voice with a large following of believers is impossible to break,” he said. This is the true power of hip hop. Yet from Montreal’s The Narcicyst to Iran’s Shahin Najafi, political hip hop has been submerged into the underground music culture.

“I would say it’s rather anti-political, antibrainwash and anti-repression content that people take the time to listen to, as in the past.

But commercially free music has been swept under the carpet with the exception of a couple of feel-good homogenized songs about freedom,” explains Shawn “Penzo Gritty” Glasgow, a local independent hip-hop artist. “Commercial artists won’t touch the subject because radio programmers won’t play that kind of content [because they don’t want to] rock the boat. The commercial customer is [not] likely to purchase this [kind of political] content so it comes down to making the people happy or selling units...

Flickr

Underground group Dead Prez send a political message to the kids. and we know what wins out.”

As Curiel explain “Artists like Paris and KRS ONE are overlooked because they don’t market themselves to the video watching youth [...]

Instead, they continue to preach from their proverbial ‘soapboxes’ and are still active, prevalent street politicians” And so, even though some underground artists may be more talented than their mainstream peers, the current buying market still prefers the glitzy club tracks.

Only a decade ago, artists like KRS ONE and Dead Prez had moderate success preaching politics to their listeners. Since then, their messages have lost influence as much of their audience has dissipated, having moved on to “cooler” mainstream artists.

This is the overwhelming issue at hand for political hip hop. The artists are there, ever struggling, to a dwindling crowd. The great tragedy of today’s hip-hop scene is that no one is shown the possibilities inherent in the music.

From the socialist mentality of Dead Prez, ot the Coup’s Marxist ideologies or the anarchist policies of Comrade Malone, hip-hop can address many realms of sociopolitical issues - but not if nobody will listen to them. The artists that do get airtime are those who have lost the original drive towards change that the music once boasted.

People are still oppressed, hurting and exploited, yet few artists choose to give a voice to the voiceless.

“Political music of any kind is terribly important to society, since it’s one of the remaining voices that young people have,” said Curiel, “A way to truly express your feelings and beliefs,even only as a listener. It keeps the sharpminded sharp.”

Just compare the fabled Tupac Shakur to Eminem, for example. Shakur, a social activist in his time, tried to propagate change through his music. He proved politics do have a place in hip hop. Eminem, on the other hand, has spent

most of his career releasing songs in which he attacks his mother, his girlfriend and the world in general. Instead of using his voice to send out a message, he has spent his career shocking the public.

As newer generations come to appreciate music, society has to remember that hip hop canbe a form of protest. It can change the way that societies observe their ills and, subsequentlyuncover how to change them. Music doesn’t need to be a simple tune to dance to. It can be used as an expression of cultural, social and political unrest. It can and should make you think and ask questions. When truth and art collide, real music is made that is bigger than just a simple hip-hop track.

For a taste of “real” hip hop, see Dead Prez live in Montreal when they play at Foufounes Electriques on Oct. 27.

review

Local Natives prove their rockstar worth at La Tulipe The L.A. band plays for an almost sold-out crowd Katelyn Spidle Music editor A feeling of anticipation spread around the dense crowd at La Tulipe on Wednesday evening as New Zealand-based group Ruby Suns, the second of two opening bands, cleared their set and strolled offstage. The anxious crowd bobbed to the electro-pop beats played by the openers, but what they were really waiting for was Local Natives.

The band has gained much attention in the festival scene over the past year for their threepart harmonies and solid songwriting. Band members Taylor Rice, Kelcey Ayer, Ryan Hahn, Andy Hamm, and Matt Frazier formed in 2008 in Silver Lake, a neighbourhood of Los Angeles, and released their debut album, Gorilla Manor, earlier this year.

An energetic burst of sound erupted from the stage as the stylish indie rockers began their set.

The loosely-gathered audience tightened as the room filled with excited screams. The three lead vocalists, Rice, Ayer and Hahn as well as back-up vocalist/bassist Hamm positioned themselves in a straight line while percussionist Frazier, who was also set up with a microphone, sat behind.

The band traded in their fast-paced opening for a small succession of mellow tunes.

Fans sang along with the lyrics through smiling mouths and many people danced throughout the concert, although this was reduced to sways during the slower parts of the set.

For their third song, the band played a cover of the Talking Heads’ “Warning Sign,” which the crowd accepted with pleasure. A recorded version of the track appears on Gorilla Manor.

Recorded, Local Natives’ music is quite lowkey and delicate but their live performance gave off a different vibe. The music sounded heavier and more robust, making it a full-bodied performance. This may have had the effect of throwing off fans who had not yet experienced the band live. However, if this was so, it was not apparent in the way that the crowd reacted during the concert.

The impressive light show which accompanied each set gave a vibrant touch to the show.

Electric blue lights cascaded over the group during their more mellow songs, while bright red and yellow lights darted around the stage, upping the intensity of their more animated tunes.

Their voices echoed in the classic theatre. Each singer possessed an awe-inspiring vocal range which produced pitch-perfect harmonies that are often difficult to pull off in a live performance.

Local Natives demonstrated a captivating stage presence that could warrant rock-star status. Guitarist Rice would back away from the microphone to dance in rhythmic, highenergy bursts, while Hahn would lean into his instruments as if fully immersing himself in the moment.

The three lead vocalists showed off their

competency on multiple instruments by interchanging the guitar, keyboard, and percussion.

Hahn played the mandolin in one of the final songs which made a beautiful contribution to the overall set.

The band played their final song and disappeared backstage. People started to slowly filter out as dedicated fans quickened the pace and intensified the strength of their stomps and cries.

As to be expected of a headlining band, Local

Natives re-emerged to give a two-song encore.

The final encore ended climatically with a highenergy and instrumentally-complex song which thoroughly demonstrated their musical agility and talent. Local Natives’ visit to Montreal was one that undoubtedly left their fans wanting more.

Local Natives are currently touring North America and Europe.

Ryan Hahn (left) and Kelcy Ayer (right) trade guitar responsibilities. Photo by Hannah Jung

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/concordianmusic

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

15

Mixtape SIDE A

Last Days Olivia Dumas Staff writer

In spirit of the fall season drawing to a close, this mix chronicles various “endings.” These songs also mark the beginning of something new, and this experience can be either

positive or negative. Simply put, each song acknowledges the passing of time and the changes it brings.

To listen go to 8tracks.com/the_concordian/last-days

Quick Spins

1. “Time Has Told Me” - Nick Drake Fruit Tree, 2007 (re-release) 2. “Gone Tomorrow” - The Gossip Arkansas Heat, 2002 3. “Go It Alone ”- Beck - Guero, 2005 4. “Flood pt. 1” - The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain, 2007 5. “Big Decision” - Elliott Smith - New Moon, 2007 6. “Closing Time” - Leonard Cohen The Future, 1992 7. “Moment Of Clarity” - DJ Danger Mouse - The Grey Album, 2004 8. “Isn’t Life Strange?” - The Clientele - God Save The Clientele, 2007 9. “J’t’emmène au vent” - Louise Attaque - Louise Attaque, 1997 10. “Not Fade Away” - Buddy Holly and The Crickets - The “Chirping” Crickets, 1957 SIDE B 1. “My Autumn’s Done Come” - Lee Hazlewood - The Very Special World Of Lee Hazlewood, 1966 2. “Just For Today” - The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Bravery, Repetition And Noise, 2001 3. “At This Point In My Life” - Tracy Chapman - New Beginning, 1995 4. “Here Today” - The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds, 1966 5. “Bitters End” - Roxy Music - Roxy Music, 1972 6. “Change Of Heart” - El Perro Del Mar - Love Is Not Pop, 2009 7. “Final Hour” - Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, 1998 8. “Down The Line” - José Gonzalez In Our Nature, 2007 9. “Harness Your Hopes” - Pavement Carrot Rope, 1999 10. “Tides” - Arovane - Tides, 2000

Retro review

Bonjay - Broughtupsy (self-released; 2010)

Warpaint - The Fool (Rough Trade; 2010)

Teebs - Ardour (Brainfeeder; 2010)

Kate Bush - Hounds of Love (EMI; 1985)

Ontario-based duo Bonjay have made an impressively diverse new EP with their latest release Broughtupsy. It comes a year after the release of their debut album Gimmee Gimmee, which was praised by both the Montreal Mirror and NOW magazine.

Broughtupsy features six songs which solidifies the group’s reputation as an emerging new talent that is unafraid to mix genres.

The album opens with the captivating single “Stumble” then slows down midway through the record with the haunting “Small Hours,” before finishing off with the gently unfolding and sleepy tune “Creepin.” Melodically, the album is all over the place. The tracks “Small Hours” and “Frawdulent” have reggae undertones, while “Creepin” could plant its roots in the psychedelic genre. This is coupled with the tracks: “Stumble,” “Shotta” and “Want a Gang,” which can most closely be described as electro-dance. Throughout, Ian “Pho” Swain spins original and experimental beats, while singer Alanna Stuart demonstrates her incredible vocal range. Broughtupsy is immediately accessible and each listen reveals a new layer of complexity.

Having made a name for themselves on the 2010 festival scene with slots at Coachella and Bonnaroo as well as opening gigs for British dream pop group The xx, the Los Angeles quartet known as Warpaint finally deliver their much-anticipated debut The Fool. Hazy and psychedelic, the album is imbued with a sense of mystery similar to that of their English tourmates. Frontwoman Emily Kokal steals the show with her dreamy lead vocals that make themselves obvious on opening numbers “Set Your Arms Down” and “Warpaint.” The unconventional melodic structures coupled with the unusual sound of the instruments call to mind the likes of influential shoegazers My Bloody Valentine, but in a way that the art-rock collective can undoubtedly call their own.

The Fool’s experimental tendencies and unconventional structures make them an acquired taste for many, but also sets the band apart from many of their contemporaries. A solid debut from a promising experimental rock group.

Teebs presents the after-party of the year with the release of his solo debut, Ardour. Experimental producer Flying Lotus plays mentor for this album which can be described as a textural digital landscape that ebbs and flows over the course of its 18 unique tracks.

Teebs manages to orchestrate a wide range of sounds into one cohesive whole. Ardour’s sound is as much jazz as it is hip hop, albeit with a singular take on the former. Central to the album’s sound are the woodwind and string instruments which are first apparent in the track “You’ve Changed.” Also strong is the reverb-laden piano that is most notable in “Lakeshore Ave.” Finally, there is the pounding bass in “Moments” which pushes air through cascading piano trills.

Everything is directed to move together by Teebs who acts as a conductor behind his bliss-injected walls of sound. With techniques like alternating duplet and triplet bass hits the man can stretch one instant in time. Take in this chilled-out body of work and you’ll get lost in this electronic L.A. cocktail.

Undeniably one of the most bizarre and fascinating women in music, Kate Bush shook the foundations of pop by diversifying the genre and giving it character. This 1985 album remains her most successful, topping the UK charts and announcing Bush’s breakthrough in the U.S. Even though “Running Up That Hill” replaced Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” as the No.1 song in the U.K. charts, she did not succumb to mainstream pressures by compromising her experimental sound.

The album is a powerhouse of well-constructed lyrics accompanied by ethereal instrumentation and flawless production executed

by Bush herself. Different facets of her artistic vision are explored in the two halves of this album, reuniting the more classic pop songs of side one like “Hounds Of Love” or “Cloudbusting” with an exploration of the darker, more personal corners of her talent such as “Under Ice” or “Waking The Witch” on side two. Hounds Of Love shows Kate Bush at the peak of her career and in complete control of her sound.

Trial Track: “Arthur’s Birds”

Trial Track: “Running Up That Hill”

Trial Track: “Warpaint”

Trial Track: “Stumble”

8.5/10

- Katelyn Spidle

8.0/10

- David MacIntyre

9.0/10

- Colin Harris

- Olivia Dumas

sports 16

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com football

Stingers running back Raul Thompson had five carries and 27 yards during their win against Montréal Friday night.

Playoff hopes still alive Stingers hang on to beat Montreal, must win again to make post-season Kamila Hinkson Sports editor Concordia’s men’s football team didn’t score a single point in the second half, but still came away with a 21-14 win Friday night against the Montréal Carabins at CEPSUM. The Stingers opened the scoring with two singles kicked by Rene Paredes. During Montréal’s second possession of the game, Paul Spencer intercepted a pass to give Concordia the ball on Montréal’s 41-yard line. The Stingers were unable to make significant gains and brought Paredes out to try for a field goal. Montréal blocked the kick and the Carabins’ Frank Bruno picked the ball up but fumbled it. Philippe Patenaude Lavallée recovered it and the Stingers found themselves at the Montréal 5-yard line. Quarterback Terrance Morsink found slotback Liam Mahoney in the endzone for the touchdown and Concordia was up 9-0.

Montréal made significant gains during their drive after the touchdown. After making three first downs in a row, the Stingers’ Nicholas Arsenault-Hum made the first of two interceptions of the night, running the ball back 62 yards on the play. During the ensuing drive, Mahoney handed the ball off to Sanchez Deschamps who scored on a 3-yard run and made the score 16-0 Concordia.

Montréal would put together a 99-yard march down the field that would end in a touchdown in the second quarter, but Concordia added a safety and field goal to the score and went into half-time leading 21-6.

Though the first half was dominated by the Stingers, the Carabins turned the tables for the second half of the game.

Two field goals on two consecutive drives, along with a safety, made the score 21-14 for the Stingers and brought the Carabins to within a touchdown of tying the game at the end of the third quarter.

Concordia gained 41 yards on their first possession of the fourth quarter. But the drive ended when Morsink was intercepted by Montréal linebacker Jonathan Richard-Beaulieu in the Carabins’ endzone.

Morsink threw four picks in the second half.

Three of those passes found their way into the hands of Montréal defensive back Julien Hamel.

Combined with another interception from the second quarter, Hamel’s four interceptions broke a Quebec division record and he became the eighth player in Canada to achieve the feat in one game.

Montréal’s quarterback Alexandre NadeauPiuze completed a pass to Francois Leclerc, who made a gain of 24 yards before being taken down

by Arsenault-Hum. A sack credited to Louis Taillon and Maurice Forbes ended Montréal’s drive at their 45-yard line.

About four minutes later, Arsenault-Hum added his second interception of the night, on a pass by Nadeau-Piuze that he reeled in out of thin air and ran back for a gain of five yards.

The Carabins had one last real chance to tie the score with four minutes left to play, but a 20-yard drive came to an end with an incomplete

pass.

Morsink completed 19 of 36 passes for 206 yards, with one touchdown and five interceptions. Running back Edem Nyamadi rushed for 104 yards.

“We moved the ball well in the third quarter and fourth quarter, and then we threw a couple bad picks, but again Terrance is young and we’re putting way too much pressure on him,” head coach Gerry McGrath said after the game.

But Morsink took full responsibility for his errors. “[I was] just trying to fit the ball into places where I couldn’t fit the ball, not making my

reads, I just didn’t have a great game. That’s it.

Last week, I had the game of my life, and we lost, this week I have the worst game I’ve ever had, and we won. I’d rather win.”

With Sherbrooke’s win against Bishop’s on Saturday, the two teams are tied in fourth place.

Concordia must now beat Laval in their final regular season game this week have a chance at a playoff berth.

The Stingers will wrap up the regular season this Saturday at home against the Laval Rouge et Or. Kick-off is at 1 pm.

Edem Nyamdi fights to break a tackle as Corey Newman tries to get the Carabin off his back. Photos by Clovis-Alexandre Desvarieux

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

17

hockey

Stingers Edge Varsity Blues in OT Maxime Joyal stands strong as Charles-Antoine Messier gives Concordia the win Simon Tousignant Staff writer Charles-Antoine Messier scored the winning goal in overtime to give the Stingers a 3-2 victory over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday at Concordia’s Ed Meagher Arena.

Coming off another 3-2 win on Thursday against the Nipissing Lakers where Derek Famulare earned the Stingers the victory with a late goal in the third period, Concordia came back to edge the Varsity Blues.

The Stingers opened the game with good pressure in Toronto’s zone, only to be denied

by Varsity Blues goaltender Andrew Martin.

Concordia goaltender Maxime Joyal also shone right after, stopping two Toronto players on the same play with spectacular crosscrease saves.

Derek Famulare put the Stingers on the board after scoring a shorthanded goal at 7:11 in the first period. He beat Martin with a backhand shot on the breakaway after a sharp pass by Olivier Jannard.

Toronto didn’t lose any time before they tied the game, as they put one past Joyal just

Charles-Antoine Messier skates around Toronto’s Sean Kliewer Saturday afternoon. Photo

by Clovis-Alexandre Desvarieux over a minute later. Varsity Blues forward Dan Brewer shot the puck in an open net for the powerplay tally after the Concordia goaltender gave up a rebound. Joel Lenius and Paul Dupont were awarded assists on the play.

After Toronto dominated the start of the second period, the game took a turn for the worse, when Stingers centre Kyle Kelly was injured after a big check from defenceman Tyler Turcotte deep in Toronto’s zone. Kelly laid on the ice for a few minutes before being

carried out on a stretcher. The game was interrupted for 30 minutes.

A seemingly stunned Stingers team saw Toronto take the lead on the man advantage three minutes later. Kyle Ventura caught a rebound in front of the net and sent a weak shot past Joyal’s shoulder. Anthony Bergin was awarded an assist on the goal which was the result of great cycling in the Concordia zone by the Varsity Blues squad.

The Stingers then had a golden chance to come back in the game when Toronto

defencemen Turcotte and Sean Kliewer were sent to the penalty box 30 seconds apart with a minute remaining in the period. However, goaltender Martin stopped the eight shots he faced to keep his team on top.

After failing to convert on the 5-on-3 to start the third, the Stingers worked hard to stay in the game. Their efforts came to fruition when Marc-Andre Element blasted a hard slap shot in the right corner of the Toronto net on a rush at 15:19. Messier got the assist on the tying goal.

A re-energized Stingers team tried everything to win the game in regulation, but Martin was excellent, stopping 17 shots to give his team a chance at victory.

Another Concordia player had to leave the game when veteran Kiefer Orsini was hit by Dan Brewer. No penalty was called on the play.

After Kliewer was sent to the box for holding a stick, Messier scored the winning goal at 2:57 of the overtime period. A puck rebounded on his stick right in front of the net and he put it past Martin to secure the win for the Stingers. Alexandre Monahan and Michael Blundon picked up assists on the power play winner.

Stingers coach Kevin Figsby was happy that despite “not having their A-game,” the Stingers found a way to win. “That is sometimes the sign of a great team,” he said.

Figsby updated Kelly’s condition, saying the forward might have suffered a pinched nerve and a dislocated hip.

The Stingers are back in action next Friday in an away game against Nipissing at Memorial Gardens. The game starts at 7 p.m.

baseball

The Stingers no longer national champs Men’s baseball team lose in semifinals to Brock University Kamila Hinkson Sports editor The men’s baseball team will have to wait until next year to reclaim the national title, as they bowed out in the semifinals of the CIBA National Championships this past weekend.

The Stingers opened the tournament against the host, the St. Clair College Saints, on Friday evening.

The Saints finished at the very bottom of the standings in the Ontario conference, but were given a spot in the finals because they were hosting.

Stinger Braden Simpson pitched the whole game and gave three hits, five strikeouts and only one walk. He was named player of the game for the Stingers. Emilio Pampena went two for three with two RBI. The final score was 3-0 for Concordia.

The Brock University Badgers, the champions

of the Ontario University Athletics league, were up next for Concordia on Saturday morning.

Brock won the game by a score of 3-1.

Medhi Djebbar started the game for Concordia, and only gave up two unearned runs in the five innings he pitched. He was later taken out in order to save him for games on Sunday, if was needed him.

Kurtis Robinson pitched the whole game for the Badgers and gave just two hits while striking out seven Stingers.

Concordia recorded their first hit of the game with two outs in the sixth inning. With two runners on, team captain Jason Katz went up to bat, and popped out and the Badgers were leading 3-0 in the sixth inning.

Mark Nadler spoiled Robinson’s shutout bid when he scored off a ground out by Andre Lagarde in the seventh inning, but that was the only run they scored in the game.

Team manager Howard Schwartz explained that coming into the tournament as the 2009 champions didn’t help the team’s cause.

“We didn’t hit very well, but you have to understand – we had an ‘x’ on our foreheads for the entire tournament. I haven’t seen such good pitching thrown against us in years. We faced better pitching in this tournament that we did all year,” said Schwartz. “We were the defend-

ing champions and everybody threw their best against us. […] Every team has one ace, and we saw them all.”

Later on Saturday afternoon, the Stingers shut out McGill 5-0 in a northern championship final rematch.

“It was the easier of the games we’d played,” Schwartz commented in reference to the score.

“But it’s never easy against McGill.”

Lagarde was on the mound for Concordia and pitched the entire game. He gave up five hits, struck out three Redmen and walked two.

“They always had runners on base. It wasn’t like it was a piece of cake. … [Andre] was in control that game. He kept the McGill hitters off balance completely.”

Kevin Shelton went two for three with two hits, including a double, and scored two runs.

He was named player of the game for the Stingers.

Sunday morning, Concordia went up against the Badgers again, this time in the semifinal match. Again, offence was hard to come by, and they fell 3-0. “[Brock] threw their two aces at us, who just made our bats look real weak,” said Schwartz.

Simpson got the start again for Concordia, while Justin Ayles got the start for Brock.

Ayles pitched six innings and allowed no runs

on just two hits with four strikeouts.

Simpson gave up six hits in the three innings he pitched, but according to Schwartz, the numbers don’t reflect his effort.

“He pitched well, he just made a couple of mistakes,” including letting go of a fastball that came in a little too high on Cameron Graham, who nailed it over the fence for one of two home runs by the Badgers that game.

“I think we lacked some depth, certainly on offence, we certainly lacked some big bats in our lineup, and I think that in the end, that probably was the difference,” said Schwartz. “In the end, that could probably answer some of the questions as to why we didn’t go all the way.”

Simpson and Shelton were named to the all-tournament team, the former as the best lefthanded pitcher and the latter as the left fielder.

Though they couldn’t capture the title, Schwartz said he’s happy with his team’s performance.

“I think we did great to get to the semis. It was a struggle all year to play and win. The two playoff series were incredibly tough battles, and every game in the nationals was a tough battle and these guys put everything out there.

They did everything they could do to win. There wasn’t any other reason, other than we just fell short.”

Stinger Kevin Shelton slides into second this weekend at the National Championships. He was named to the all-tournament team. Photo by Gordon Lusk

18

theconcordian

Tuesday, October 26, 2010 soccer

Win slips away from Concordia men’s soccer team Stingers settle for a tie against Montreal after the Carabins score a goal late in the game Christopher Palma Alfaro Staff writer The Stingers’ men soccer team were four minutes away from what would have been a third victory this season, but ultimately walked away with a 2-2 tie against the Montréal Carabins on Friday night.

The tying goal came from a free kick by Montréal. Maxime Laurey passed to Nawar Hanna, whose strike found the back of the net, to the dismay of Concordia goalkeeper Khalid Ismail, and of the courageous Concordia Stadium crowd that battled a freezing cold night to support their team.

At the time of the goal, Concordia was playing one man short due to the ejection of Claude-Arthur Diesse at the 67th minute. Diesse intentionally stepped on the back of the leg of a Montréal defenceman because he thought he had been fouled on a previous play.

The first goal was scored by the Carabins four minutes into the game. Damir Rosic redirected a Maxime Laurey corner kick behind goalkeeper Nicholas Giannone.

The first half was dominated by Concordia.

They held possession for the majority of the half and were the more aggressive team when pursuing the ball.

They had multiple chances to tie the score.

At the 22nd minute, Diesse passed through the defensive line to a streaking Peter Bow, who was unable to gather enough control on the ball to challenge the Montréal goaltender with a dangerous shot. Immediately after, Concordia star forward Matthijs Eppinga skirted past Montréal’s defence and produced a powerful strike, but it

The Stingers have scored 11 goals in 10 games this season. They sit in sixth place in the standings. Photo by Faiz Imam missed.

Concordia was unable to produce goals out of the many opportunities that they had. Corners and free kicks were aborted, until the last play of the half. During the stoppage time, Eppinga fed Shady Shalaby with a heel pass, leaving him alone against the goalie that he beat with a strong strike only seconds before the referee blew the whistle. The score was tied at one at the end of the half.

The start of the second half was played by both teams with a sense of urgency. However, foul calls by the referees slowed down the game’s pace.

Moments before Diesse’s ejection, Concordia

was able to take the lead. At the 64th minute, Ryan Brousseau lobbed the ball in front of the Montréal goal; Christian Auld jumped toward the ball and connected with a header that soared in the goal, making it 2-1.

Another chance, at the 74th minute, on a counterattack initiated by Eppinga, Peter Bow presented himself in front of the goal but was robbed by Montréal’s keeper Grégory MorinMaltais.

Before Montréal tied, Concordia was able to resist many attacks by the Carabins. Concordia goalkeeper Ismail, who replaced Giannone at half time, made many important saves in the last 20 minutes of the game to maintain their lead.

At the 83rd minute, the Concordia’s defence came up big, clearing a pass that was destined for a Montréal forward who beat the offside trap.

If not for this clear, the player would have been alone with only the keeper to beat.

The Stingers were shut out by UQAM Sunday afternoon by a score of 2-0.

After this weekend, Concordia’s record stands at 2-7-1. They are still chasing the fourth and last playoff spot, which is held by Montréal.

Concordia will take on McGill at Molson Stadium on Friday at 8:30 p.m., and UQTR at CAPS in Trois-Rivières on Sunday at 3 p.m.

soccer

Concordia’s women soccer team overmatched by Montréal Stingers are blanked by the first place team

Christopher Palma Alfaro Staff writer The Stingers lost their final home game of the season Friday night to the Montréal Carabins by a score of 5-0.

This was also the final home game for Allison Burgess, Natasha Sicondolfo and Monica White, who are ending their univerity career this year.

This loss, in combination with Sherbrooke’s 4-1 win against UQTR, officially eliminates the Stingers from post-season play.

The Stingers started the game with the possession, but it was not long before the Carabins took the ball from them and started to attack.

For the early part of the first half, Concordia was able to withstand the opposition’s attack with ease. Shots were stopped with little trouble and potential scoring chances were cleared before they developed.

But when Montréal got deeper into Concordia territory, the Concordia defence started making errors and scoring chances were created. At the 14th minute, a 25-yard free kick sailed over Concordia’s goalkeeper Andrea Davidson’s goal. A minute later, a defensive breakdown left Montréal’s Isabelle Dumais alone against Davidson. The Concordia goalkeeper challenged the Montréal forward, and

cut the angle so that Dumais had no room to score, and missed her kick to the right.

Dumais would have her revenge a couple of minutes later. Montréal was awarded a free kick deep in Concordia territory, near the right corner. Emmanuelle Béliveau-Labrecque centered the ball in a mob of players in front of Concordia’s net. Out of nowhere, Dumais reached for the ball and redirected it for the goal.

Montréal did not seem to be satisfied with just one goal, as they kept on going forward.

The Carabins had many chances to increase the score, but either lacked opportunism or faced a goalkeeper in control of her abilities.

At the 26th minute, Davidson stoned Véronique Laverdière on a breakaway chance.

During the first half, Concordia was not able to do much offensively. Most of the chances they had came on counterattacks, but were quickly neutralized by the stifling Montréal defence.

Before the end of the half, the Carabins were able to produce two more goals, the second by Dumais that came at the 35th minute and Laverdière’s breakaway goal at the 41st minute. The score was 3-0 in favour of Montréal at the half.

Concordia was able to create more offence in the second half, controlling the ball and spending time in Montréal territory. But, they were unable to capitalize on their chances.

The second half was the Isabelle Dumais show. She found the net at the 48th and at the 53rd minute, scoring four of the five Carabins goals by herself.

After the game, Concordia’s head coach

Jorge Sanchez said that this game was a “mirror of their season,” because they made errors at bad times.

The Stingers fell on Sunday afternoon 2-0 to the UQAM Citadins. Defender Kristina

McGovern was the MVP for Concordia.

Concordia will take on McGill at Molson Stadium on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and UQTR at CAPS in Trois-Rivières on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Concordia just couldn’t keep up with Montréal Friday night. Photo by Faiz Imam

Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com

19

rugby

Women’s rugby squad headed to finals Stingers will face Laval in re-match of last year’s final Kelly Greig Staff writer The Concordia women’s rugby team secured a berth in the finals this Sunday with a 33-5 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees.

This Friday night’s final against the Laval Rouge et Or will mark the Stingers’ fourth consecutive appearance in the final with a record of 3-1 including last year’s victory which sent them to nationals.

Sunday’s semifinal was the first hurdle towards the championships. The squad faced off against a gritty Ottawa side with a physically intimidating forward pack. “They’ve got a couple of beasts out there, for sure; the two props are heavy hitters. They’re solid and they’re fit, it’s not like they can only play for five to 10 minutes. They get around the field and they’re always there,” said head coach Graeme McGravie.

It only took two minutes after the opening kick for Concordia to score. Veteran forward Hughanna Gaw came out of a ruck with the ball and was tackled into the try zone to make the score 5-0.

It only took three more minutes to even the score. The Gee-Gees thundered down the field and winger Natasha Watcham-Roy beat the back line at the end to touch it down. That was the lone try for Ottawa as Concordia’s defence didn’t waiver for the rest of the game.

Sarah Scanlon pulled the Stingers ahead when she touched the ball down in a pileup on the try line. Jackie Tittley added the kick to make it 12-5.

The strength of Concordia’s game this year has come from the forwards. McGravie likens his strategy to that of the New York Giants: do one thing really well and depend on it. In every game this year the pack has dominated their opponents. But in the semifinal, they were challenged by Ottawa’s gritty forwards and de-

cided to let the back line take on a bigger role.

“I think there was a bit of added responsibilities on the backs today,” said McGravie. “We talked at halftime about how our games have been mostly forward-dominated affairs, they’re not real happy about that because they don’t get the ball. We addressed that this week and I thought they played much better in the second half.”

“I’m not going to lie, a few times I was sort of nervous when the ball went out the backs,” said captain Claire Hortop, “I don’t know if it was their best game -- at least defensive-wise they totally covered their bases. It’s just the odd time you come up from the ground and you just did something good and you look back and the ball is 20 metres behind you and you’re like ‘What happened?’”

Winger Jenna Giuliani scored on a solo run midway through the first half and inside centre Tittley added the conversion. Standout rookie Cara Stuckey made four consecutive tackles all while pushing Ottawa back.

The second half of the game began with the Stingers back on their heels. A passing miscue and bad hands almost saw the Gee-Gees take advantage of their own missed penalty kick.

This near-try lit a fire under the Stingers who came back hitting hard.

Adara Borys punished a Gee-Gee when she got caught standing still with the ball in her hands and Jessie Lapointe bowled over her tackler on a kick return. The Stingers marched downfield and were rewarded with a try by outside centre Kim Whitty. “It was finally nice to get the ball and prove to not only the coaches [but] to the team [and] to the fans that we have backs that have good hands and that we can score trys in the backs when usually we score more in the forwards,” said Whitty.

By the time Ottawa’s best forward was injured and taken out, Concordia had the game in the bag. They added an insurance try by Jessica Beaudry and a kick by Tittley.

“She was on the field all of like 30 seconds and she scores the try,” joked McGravie after Beaudry’s last minute score.

That finished the scoring at 33-5 to advance the Stingers to the next round. They will face archrival Laval Rouge et Or on Friday night on

home turf.

“It’s going to be tight, but I think we’re really hitting our stride,” said McGravie. “We’re looking forward to playing Laval. For some reason we still think we’re the underdog when we play

them, but I’m relishing the challenge for sure.”

Concordia will take on Laval at home on Friday at 7 p.m. Entr

(Top) Concordia’s Lisa Hoffman protects the ball as captain Claire Hortop rucks an Ottawa GeeGee. (Bottom) Rookie Cara Stuckey straight-arms a Gee-Gee on the way to a 33-5 victory in the semi-final. Photos by Cindy Lopez

THE DEAN OF STUDENTS SGW OFFICE IS NOW OPEN LATE! MONDAY – THURSDAY: 9AM-7PM FRIDAY: 9AM-5PM

Does your schedule not work with the regular 9am-5pm opening hours?

No problem! In order to better assist you, we have extended our hours!

AMONG OTHER SERVICES, THE DEAN OF STUDENTS OFFICE OFFERS YOU… o Support to student associations o Co-curricular Record o Peer tutor information o CCSL Special Projects funding o CCSL Outstanding Contribution Awards o Commissioner of Oaths for Concordia-related documents (by appointment) QUESTIONS? CONFUSED? PLEASE DROP BY AND SEE HOW WE CAN HELP YOU LOCATION: SGW-H-637 TELEPHONE: 848-2424 ext. 3517

editorial 20

Language

Time to put a lid on talk about the province’s language laws Let’s all vow to stop talking about what is fair and unfair

Let’s pledge to take a vow of silence on a topic that has everyone’s tongues wagging, and has had them going for years.

Language debate in Quebec: it’s exhausting and never-ending, and with the recent kerfuffle over extending Bill 101 (or making it mandatory for certain students to study in French as opposed to English), we want to propose a stop to it.

The big justification for the draconian language laws in our province is that we’re here to protect French, Quebec’s official language. Fine; Quebec is a North American island of francophones in a sea of anglophones. It’s understandable that a government would want to enact protectionist laws in order to preserve the culture and heritage of the community, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

The French language is not in danger anymore; people still speak the language across the province and learn both languages, and even a third one, to be successful, productive members of society.

Let’s embrace the status quo over signs and schools and leave it at that; the debates over language take time away from other precious issues actually impacting our society. In the mean time, with the silence offered up by the new void, let’s address the other things we’re not talking about when we endlessly discuss language.

Instead of discussing how to get through loopholes, set up a school for English-speaking children who are new to the province to help them become accustomed to French, instead of throwing them into a new school in a different language.

Let’s not look into which private schools will get kids better instruction in languages, but how to make quality education available for all kids in the province, no matter if they’re paying $12,000 or $100 in school fees every year. More pressing issues are funding to update schools, get new

books in kids’ hands and pay teachers higher salaries for the tough work they do. Most importantly, the government should be making sure that students are equipped to handle the rigours of post-secondary education.

With less focus on the debate, Montrealers

Graphic by Katie Brioux

from here or abroad could take a more positive approach to the French language. Instead of worrying about being judged for their language skills when applying for a job, they could focus on taking language classes, practicing with bilingual friends or brushing up on the lingo on their own.

While Bill 101 will likely never be extended to universities, let’s consider the CEGEP students who might be forced to attend schools based on language. Stop discussing how to further limit the choice and independence of kids who are of voting, drinking and smoking age: CEGEP students should be able to choose which language they can go to school in, as much as they can decide who to vote for and which brand of beer to buy, or not buy.

Of course, for all you linguist fans and polyglots out there, not all discourse on language is bad. We’re on the eve of a shiny new President’s Conference Series, the fourth in a series of lectures and panel discussions, and the theme this year is “The City is the World: Montreal Through the Eyes of Concordia,” one which will approach the language issue in several different ways. (We applaud the very ConU-centric theme, why shouldn’t everything be about us?

It’s about time.)

The first big event of the session is “The Flow of Languages, the Grace of Cultures.” Concordia études françaises professor and translator Sherry Simon is giving a lecture with a focus on three of Montreal’s richest literary movements in the 1940s. It discusses literary creation in English, French and Yiddish, and shows that Montreal is a product of intertwining languages, not the two solitudes that are frequently imagined in our city.

Embrace bilingualism and remember to cherish your mother tongue. It’s the only way we’re going to live together peacefully. Let’s drop the topic and keep talking about other stuff.

Letters

Re: Palestinian rights group in the wrong I have to take issue with Alex Woznica in his rundown of the faux controversy surrounding author Elie Wiesel’s speaking engagement at Concordia last week, where he stated that Wiesel’s support for the state of Israel is “understandable considering his Jewish faith and his time spent in Nazi death camps.”

What I don’t understand is how one can make the jump to say that one’s experiences of horror at the hands of one group would, in a logical train of thought, entitle them to a title deed on someone else’s property on another continent. Of course, Wiesel’s faith can’t be overlooked in analyzing his support for Israel, but both arguments ignore the fact there are Jews — and yes, survivors of the Holocaust — that do not throw their support behind Israel, and supporters who don’t base their views purely on their Jewish faith.

While I don’t support Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights Concordia’s views, particularly on Wiesel’s character, I don’t believe he is immune from criticism due to his firsthand experiences or his prestige, as Woznica seems to indicate when he says, “If groups such as SPHR cannot stomach a speech at Concordia by a holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winning author, then they should at least kindly avoid exploiting the occasion for the purposes of their own totally unrelated cause.”

Unrelated? How related could you get!

Woznica complains that SPHR seems “to see the whole world in the context of their own special interest.” Well, what do you want them to talk about? They’re a Palestinian rights group! That’s their bread and butter.

Personally, I don’t care about their opinions.

Wiesel is an outspoken voice on the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, and they have as much a right to criticism of Wiesel, whether he wrote Night or not.

While I agree that the situation in Palestine is “sad,” I don’t agree that it’s “not a very local problem for Canadians or people living in Quebec.”

I’ll just cancel my $20 loan on Kiva.org to a woman named Juhudi in the Dominican Republic, because her inability to feed her children is not a local problem, and thus not deserving of my attention.

Christopher Olson English Literature

Re: Palestinian rights group in the wrong Some are deeply concerned about the symbolism of the presence of Elie Wiesel in Concordia during last week’s peace week. Alex Woznica seems to be poorly informed about the controversies surrounding Elie Wiesel and the fact that his political views and actions are viewed, by many (including Israelis) as being radical and contrary to the promotion of peace in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Wiesel’s past disregard for Palestinian national rights to Jerusalem is the root cause of this primary contention. His visit comes at a time when Palestinian rights violations are more pressing than ever, with Israel’s government announcing plans to construct 238 new housing units in Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem. This news only serves as a catalyst to the existential threat that

Palestinians in East Jerusalem face following years of home demolitions and evictions.

Wiesel’s remarks this week at Concordia did no injury to human rights groups on campus. However, opposition was still prevalent and simply directed toward the man behind the visit himself.

Woznica’s defense of Wiesel’s alleged nonpartisan view in the Concordian comes as a fallacy to many who sympathize with Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights. For all the nuances in Wiesel’s remarks, his position is clearly in alignment with the hardline ideology that has been the centrepiece for Israel’s institutional oppression of the Palestinian people.

It is precisely these hardline and discriminatory views that fuel the ideological premise for the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, and which SPHR takes ample care to denounce. Without this example of protest from Canadian grassroots human rights solidarity movements, we as citizens of a liberal democracy would fail to provide justice for any social movement that struggles for its self-determination and human rights preservation whether that be Palestinian, aboriginal or otherwise.

Max Kaiser

Re: Concordia Coop bookstore Dear Concordia Students, I am writing this letter to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you, on behalf of all of us (past and present) at the Concordia Community Solidarity Co-op Bookstore. Whether you’ve been a part-time student for more

years than you’d like to remember, or are starting fresh this academic year, the Co-op Bookstore wants to thank you for having it be a part of your community since 2002.

On this past Oct. 2, the Co-op Bookstore marked its eighth anniversary - from humble beginnings in a concrete basement below Reggie’s Pub, with a few tables and chairs, to our present cozy location on Bishop Street.

The entire journey was not only for the student population, but was also made possible by the dedication and hard work of students, volunteers, faculty members and our staff, board of directors and membership.

I am therefore hoping that whether you’ve been using our services, hanging out in our space or are just now finding out about our existence, that you will join us in our monthlong celebrations!

Join us Oct. 27, at 7 p.m., as the Co-op hosts JP King, author of We Will Be Fish, as part of our new Local Legends Reading Series. The series continues on Friday Oct. 29 with Lambda Literary Award Finalist, Daniel Allen Cox, reading from his new novel, Krakow Melt and the crew from Lickety Split Smut Zine on Wednesday Nov. 3.

And don’t be shy! Come join us at our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m. – CI Annex, 2149 Mackay St. Again, from all of us at the Co-op Bookstore – thank you for these past eight years, and here’s to many more (cheesy, I know, but you know…).

Larissa Dutil (aka Larissa LitPimp) Co-op Bookstore programming & outreach co-co-ordinator

opinions:

21

Write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com

hoLiday

Halloween is for lovers of pranks and candy You’re never too young, old or cool to dress up and have fun André-Joseph Cordeiro Staff writer

Halloween is the one time a year geeks and non-geeks alike can unite in the hallowed fête of costumed festivity. Rooted in ancient Celtic traditions of Samhain and the Christian holiday of All Saints’ Day, the secular holiday still provides, year after year, haunted houses, well-lit, meticulously-arranged jack-o’lanterns and great memories. The celebration offers an excellent chance for people of all ages to enjoy some of the more important things in life: candy, jolts and scares, and most importantly, the art of make-believe.

Too often, university students feel as though they have outgrown the holiday. Once a year, complete strangers open their doors and hand you free treats. The very essence of Halloween lies in taking a break from your everyday life and dressing up: that means a costume, and not just showing up on your neighbour’s front porches and asking for a handout. If you are not going to participate, stay home or go to a party, but definitely don’t go trick-or-treating.

Children continue to rake in record amounts of candy and amassing wide fortunes of sweets, sometimes having to carry them in garbage bags. Take this as an

opportunity to stock up on candy for at least the next month (a Tootsie Roll or four can be the perfect energy booster for those upcoming late nights where you’ll be studying for finals).

If you’re going to be giving out candy this year, broccoli and carrots are not an alternative. If you want to make a statement against cavities, hyperactive children and youth obesity, just turn off your lights and don’t answer your door when the bell rings. Kids and adults need their candy fix.

The most important thing to remember is that Halloween is supposed to be fun. There is probably nothing more satisfying than scaring trick-or-treaters or your friends on this night.

Fear flickers across their faces, terrified screams pierce the dark night sky, and echo as they scamper away, while you and others laugh uncontrollably, trying desperately to contain yourselves as the terrified looks on the victim’s faces slowly disappear, realizing it was all a hoax.

From the years of our adolescence to adulthood, too many of us slowly lose the so-called childish ability to “make believe.”

Remember how Mr. Rogers in his sweater, Fred Penner and his guitar, and Big Bird and the gang on Sesame Street moved us through the imaginary Technicolor world of our childhood.

It was in this pretend planet where we once lived as kids, dressing up as knights or princesses, space conquerors and rock stars, living out the fantasies of our minds. Through peer pressure or social acceptance, we have traded away these worlds for other, selfnarrating media. From the books we read,

University of Ottawa

Graphic by Sean Kershaw

to movies we watch, the singers that croon to us, the salt has lost its taste and failed to capture the core of our very being. We must never forget that the best movies, greatest soundtracks, and most interesting tales play

on the most giant screen of all: our imagination.

In the joy and spirit of Halloween, get dressed and get out there, regardless of your age. And scare some kids.

Graduate Studies

Your next step starts here.

Graduate Studies Open

House

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Travel subsidies of up to $85 are available for students travelling to uOttawa for this event from out of town.

(Students must attend this event and must provide proof of transportation. See the website for specific requirements.)

Visit www.discoveruOttawa.ca/fall for more details.

»

theconcordian

Concordia’s weekly, independent student newspaper.

Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010 Volume 28 Issue 9.

Sarah Deshaies Editor-in-chief editor@theconcordian.com Brennan Neill Managing editor managing@theconcordian.com Evan LePage News editor news@theconcordian.com Jacques Gallant Assistant news editor Emily White Life editor life@theconcordian.com Savannah Sher Assistant life editor Valerie Cardinal Arts editor arts@theconcordian.com Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo Assistant arts editor Katelyn Spidle Music editor music@theconcordian.com Cora Ballou Assistant music editor Kamila Hinkson Sports editor sports@theconcordian.com Chris Hanna Opinions Eeditor opinions@theconcordian.com Owen Nagels Assistant opinions editor Jacob Serebrin Online editor online@theconcordian.com Tiffany Blaise Photo editor photo@theconcordian.com Katie Brioux Graphics editor graphics@theconcordian.com Aeron MacHattie Chief copy editor copy@theconcordian.com Alecs Kakon Trevor Smith Copy editors Jill Fowler Production manager production@theconcordian. com Jennifer Barkun Francois Descoteaux Vincent Beauchemin Lindsay Sykes Production Assistants Board of Directors Tobi Elliott Ben Ngai Richard Tardif directors@theconcordian.com Editorial 7141 Sherbrooke St. W. CC.431 Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 514.848.2424 x7458 (Newsroom) 514.848.2424 x7499 (Editors) 514.848.2424 x7404 (Production) Francesco Sacco Business Manager business@theconcordian.com Marshall Johnston Advertising advertising@theconcordian. com Business and Advertising: 1455 de Maisonneuve W. H.733-4 Montreal, QC H3G 1M8 514.848.2424 x7420 (Office) 514.848.7427 (Fax) STAFF WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS: Renee Giblin, Cindy Lopez, Alyssa De Rosa, Natacha Medeiros, Melissa Como, Anna Chigo, Amanda Dafniotis, Emily Salvi, Jennifer Amell, Adam Avrashi, Dominique Daoust, Mathieu Barrot, Olivia Dumas, David MacIntyre, Colin Harris, Simon Tousignant, Christopher Palma Alfaro, Kelly Greig, Andre-Joseph Cordeiro, Daryn Wright, Faiz Imam, Cindy Lopez, Clovis-Alexandre Desvarieux, Matias Garabedin, Gordon Lusk

theconcordian

Campus

Don’t forget about the paper book E-books may be all the rage, but they won’t replace the real thing Lisa Thomson The Peak (Simon Fraser University) BURNABY, B.C. (CUP) — I was reading a textbook the other night, when my eyes briefly made their way to the top right-hand corner of the page and I couldn’t find the digital clock.

I’m so conditioned to being on my computer that I was expecting to look at the corner of a book and find out what time it was. This moment made me think about how book rituals have changed.

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1441. This revolutionary device allowed for the widespread transmission of information and broke the previous space and time limitations of an oral culture.

A university student in 2010 could read the exact same words and play with the exact same ideas as someone in Europe in 1500.

Trippy, no? Stories and information can be passed orally through generations, but we’ve all played the game telephone and we all know the message usually doesn’t remain intact by the time it reaches its destination.

Since the book in its printed form has been around for so many centuries, it’s rather unsettling to think that some people, Ghostbuster Egon Spengler included, have no problem proclaiming, “Print is dead.” I’m going to go out on a limb and say that, given its history and significance, the diminishing status of the printed word is just as curious as the diminished state of the environment, though obviously far less important. There are, after all, alternatives.

Enter Amazon.com, the American e-commerce giant that has, dare I say, revolution-

ized the way we consume books. Not only do we no longer need our local independent bookstores — not that we have many left to choose from — we don’t even go to our local big-box discount book retailer. The closure of bookstores across the country is a testament to this reality.

We don’t even have to leave our homes anymore. Instead, we stay in our sweatpants all day, unshowered with fuzzy coffee teeth, racking up credit card purchases. One might say that e-commerce leads to bad hygiene and debt and — while we’re at it — that it’s bad for the local economy, community and culture.

Amazon has also changed the way we read books — excuse me, “e-books.” The e-book has been kicking around in some form or another for the past few decades, but Amazon made the market commercially viable in 2007 when it released the Kindle. Now you can buy Amazon e-books from their website to be read on their device. They’ve been monstrously successful and in July announced that e-book sales have outpaced those of hardcover books.

Amazon may have launched the modern

era of e-books, but it isn’t alone on the market.

Other companies like Sony, Samsung and even Barnes & Noble are all getting in on the fun.

When Apple released the iPad tablet earlier this year, the company also launched a new online bookstore to sell “iBooks.” In just a few short years, e-books have gone from a novelty to a market worth over half a billion dollars.

The initial cost of buying an e-reader and building an e-book collection can be rather daunting and even alienating to those on a limited budget. You’ll also need a credit card to purchase books, since I doubt your local library yet boasts a phenomenal e-collection. Still, the convenience of obtaining an e-book is a huge boon for those who have the means. It only presents problems for kids, teens and the poor — so, most people.

In the end, I just love books. Who doesn’t like the anticipation, adrenaline and satisfaction that build while battling your way through the city and your packed schedule to grab a new book. It’s a ritual, like drinking coffee and booze, and you aren’t going to give either of those up anytime soon, now are you?

Language

Language law makes it impossible for non-Quebecois to find work in the province English-speaking ConU student cannot catch a break

Daryn Wright Contributor

There’s a bakery in Westmount with exposed brick walls and warm danishes in glass cases, luring its customers inside with the smell of rising bread. It sounds like working there would be a pretty desirable job, doesn’t it?

Well, that job can’t be yours if you don’t speak French.

I applied at this quaint bakery a few weeks ago, and after a game of phone tag, I finally reached the owner of the establishment. I was quickly informed that the bakery was recently fined under Bill 101 for having some employees who spoke only English and that it would be impossible for me to work there unless I spoke French.

This is Westmount, mind you. This is Montreal’s wealthy anglophone area and I figured this, if anywhere, would be the place where I could find a job where language barriers wouldn’t be as much an issue. Apparently I was wrong.

The employees who knew little French had to be let go, thanks to the bill that perpetu-

“

ates a divide between English and French Canadians.

This raises the question: who are we protecting here?

As much as I would love it if French had came pouring out of my mouth the instant I landed in Quebec, this is just not the case.

While article five of the Charter of the French Language does state the “right of consumers to be informed and served in French,” the deterrent for English speakers comes as a blow of discrimination.

As much as I would love it if French had come pouring out of my mouth the instant I landed in Quebec, that is just not the case.

Anyone coming from Western Canada can probably relate to my pain and the frustration that ensues when people don’t understand that French is not a part of daily life there.

The fact of the matter is, though, I am still

a student, I am still a Canadian and I still need a job.

How else am I supposed to eat and possibly buy a lovely danish or two?

While Bill 101 was implemented to safeguard the French language in Quebec, it has now become a ravaging wildfire, taking out anything remotely anglo in its wake.

It was revealed earlier this month that the South Shore’s Riverside School Board spending $5,000 on new keyboards to comply with the French laws, even going so far as covering up “shift” and “delete” keys on laptops. In order for English school boards in Quebec to operate in English as well as French they must obtain a “francization” certificate, forcing taxpayers to continue funding frivolous spending in compliance with demands of language officers that some have referred to as “tyrannical” and “Kafkaesque.”

As for deterring employers from hiring anglophones by fining them, it seems to me that gross human rights issues are being violated.

Even the United Nation’s Human Rights Committee deemed the bill as a violation of its charter of rights and freedoms, stating that “a state may choose one or more official languages, but it may not exclude outside the spheres of public life, the freedom to express oneself in a certain language.”

I guess that until French lessons kick in and I am able to say “une pâtisserie, s’il vous plait” with the proper accent I will just have to stand outside the bakery and admire the rows of warm scones from afar. And probably live on boxes of KD.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

23

The Etcetera Page Q: “What are your plans for Halloween?”

Candice Madden - Third-year early childhood education “My plans for Halloween this year is... I don’t have plans. Aside from studying for my midterms, that’s pretty much it.”

Andrej Ivanov - Second-year psychology specialization “I’m going to Connecticut for Halloween. It’s for a frat party with TKE fraternity.”

Concordia employees and volunteers prepare for the annual open house in the SP building on Saturday. Approximately 3,500 prospective students visited both campuses. Photo by Sarah Deshaies.

“Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale in a movie together called “Look at Me Weird and I’ll Kill You”.” - Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling)

Guillaume Dubois - Fourth-year communications “I have a party organized by L’Organe. We have a theme and we’re supposed to dress up as our favourite icon and revisit the icon, like a zombie Marilyn Monroe, which could be interesting.”

“‘Guys, let’s make an oath that in 8 years, we’ll all be super shitty.”- M. Night Shyamalan to Mel Gibson & Joaquin Phoenix on set of “Signs”” - Paul Rust (@paulrust) “Look bored + put glitter on your skin = Twilight Vampire Costume #cheapcostumes” Kelly Oxford (@kellyoxford)

Horoscopes Aries – March 21 to April 20 Belonging to the fire element, you’re warm and friendly. Everyone loves hanging out with you, so you’ll be invited to lots of Halloween parties this week. Go ahead and have fun, you deserve it.

Leo – July 24 to August 23 When your fire element scorches through, you can get loud and obnoxious. Don’t party too hard this Halloween, or you may do something you’ll regret. And watch your spending, too; it’s easy to lose track.

Taurus – April 21 to May 21 Being of the earth element, you’re practical and you work hard. This Halloween, try your hand at carving a pumpkin. Just watch your fingers with those knives, and don’t eat too much candy.

Virgo – August 24 to September 23 As a child of the earth element, you’re good with your hands. This Halloween, your friends may ask for your help with their costumes. They know you have an eye for detail. Work your magic!

Gemini – May 22 to June 21 You are of the air element, so you love to be sociable. Find a cool costume for Halloween this year and have a great time with your friends.

Who knows who might be around for you to flirt with?

Cancer – June 22 to July 23 Creative cancer, your element is water, so you’re intuitive and imaginative. Create your own costume this year, something suited to your inner self. Go ahead and pig out on candy, too.

Libra – September 24 to October 23 Since your element is air, you love to chat with your friends. Invite them over this year for Halloween and have yourselves a fun time. You can laugh at all the kids that come to your house for candy.

Scorpio – October 24 to November 23 Your intense and passionate nature comes from your tie to the water element. This Halloween is your chance to shine! Find the most insane

costume and go with it. Everyone will think it’s amazing.

pect of your personality shine when you dress up for Halloween this year. People will love it!

Sagittarius – November 24 to December 21 Your element is fire, which means you’re enthusiastic and open. You’ll have lots of invites to Halloween parties this year. Find something to do outdoors, this is when you’re at your happiest.

You share a birthday with:

Capricorn – December 22 to January 20 Earthy Capricorn, you like to work hard. The great thing about that is you also like to party hard. This Halloween, make sure you have fun. You’ve had your head in the books a bit too much lately.

Aquarius – January 21 to February 19 Belonging to the air element, you like to look your best. Try to come up with something grandiose for Halloween this year. Why not try dressing up as royalty with your significant other?

Pisces – February 20 to March 20 Precious Pisces, you’re of the water element, so you let your heart rule your head. Let this as-

Oct. 26: Jon Heder, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Pat Sajak Oct. 27: Kelly Osbourne, John Cleese, Scott Weiland Oct. 28: Joaquin Phoenix, Julia Roberts, Bill Gates Oct. 29: Gabrielle Union, Winona Ryder, Richard Dreyfuss Oct. 30: Gavin Rossdale, Henry Winkler, Snow Oct. 31: Peter Jackson, John Candy, Jane Pauley Nov. 1: Jenny McCarthy, Lyle Lovett, Larry Flynt

*

EVENTS AT A GLANCE +MUSIC +MUSIC +MOVIE NIGHT!

The Olive War, Valerian Mazataud (ongoing until October 28) Blood Red Shoes + Sky Larkin + Boats The Wooden Sky + Yukon Blonde Kalmunity + The Ruckus Fo’tet + DJ Andy Couchman Unicef Concordia presents back to back horror movie night

Galerie Espace Projet Casa del Popolo Sala Rossa Le Consultat (1442 Bleury 2nd floor) H-110

12h00-18h00 20h30 20h30 20h00 18h00

WED

+FILM +THEATRE +FAIR +LITERATURE +THEATRE +MUSIC

Screening of The Soloist (free with donation of non-perishable food item) H-110 Mainline theatre Hope in Chaos SP atrium mezzanine Concordia's Study Abroad Fair Co-op Bookstore JP King (Local Legends Reading Series) The Freestanding Room Fifty Words (ongoing until November 6) Joshua Abrams Natural Information Society + Thierry Amar, Elizabeth Lima & Sam Shalabi Casa Del Popolo

16h30 20h00 11h00 19h00 20h00 20h30

THURS

+NIGHT OF DEBAUCHERY! +FILM FESTIVAL +THEATRE +FAIR +TALK +TALK +TALK +HALLOWEEN! +LITERATURE +MUSIC

Rialto Theatre Rocky Horror Picture Show student night! image+nation 23 (ongoing until Nov.7) Madea (Ongoing until October 30) Centaur Theatre EV Atrium Concordia's Study Abroad Fair Oscar Peterson Concert Hall "The Cosmic Gift of Neutron Stars" feat. Prof. Victoria Kaspi "Critical challenges in Contemporary Catholicism: A Lay Response" feat. José Casanova St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish Hall "Disaster and Encyclopedism from Diderot to Joyce" feat. Paul K. Saint-Amour H-110 ASFA, CISA, ECA & the CSU present Freakshow! (Open bar) Circus afterhours (917 Ste-Catherine East) Drawn & Quarterly Bookstore Sheila Heti and Leanne Shapton in conversation Sala Rossa Dance Laury Dance + Hell Bros

21h30

TUES

26

27 28

+PHOTOGRAPHY +MUSIC

20h30 11h00 20h00 20h00 19h30 20h00 19h00

FRI

+NIGHT OF DEBAUCHERY! Rocky Horror Picture Show!

20h30 & 23h30 Rialto Theatre 19h00 Co-op bookstore Daniel Allen Cox (Local Legends reading series) +LITERATURE F.C. Smith Auditorium 20h00 +THEATRE Almighty Voice and His Wife (Teesri Duniya Theatre) +HALLOWEEN! Ski & Snowboard Club and Engineering & Computer Science Association present Halloween Howler 5! (Open bar) 1314 Olier Street 22h00 Wlliam Gibson launches Zero History +LITERATURE Drawn & Quarterly Bookstore 19h00 Daniel Belanger Metropolis 20h00 +MUSIC Casa Del Popolo Heisenberg Effect CD launch + Whilst + Jason Sharp 21h30 +MUSIC Sala Rossa 19h00 Montreal Witches' Ball +HALLOWEEN! Concordia Field 19h00 Women's rugby vs. Laval +STINGERS Men's rugby @ Bishops Coulter Field 20h00 +STINGERS Women's soccer @ McGill 18h30 Molson Stadium +STINGERS Men's soccer @ McGill Molson Stadium 18h30 +STINGERS Men's basketball @ Rhode Island The Ryan Center 19h00 +STINGERS Concordia Gym 19h00 Women's basketball vs. Carleton +STINGERS +STINGERS Men's hockey @ Nipissing Memorial Gardens 19h30 19h30 Ed Meagher Arena +STINGERS Women's hockey vs. Montreal

SAT

+NIGHT OF DEBAUCHERY! +MUSIC +STINGERS +STINGERS

Rocky Horror Picture Show Matt & Kim Men’s Football vs Laval Men's hockey @ Toronto

31

+NIGHT OF DEBAUCHERY! +SPOOKY +MUSIC +STINGERS +STINGERS +STINGERS +STINGERS

Rocky Horror Picture Show All-Hallows-Evening Platimun Sweat + Super Fossil Power + Montreal Nintendo Orkestar Men's basketball @ University of Vermont Women's soccer @ UQTR Men's soccer @ UQTR Wrestling (Concordia Invitational)

MON

+CINEMA POLITICA +MUSIC

Stolen Black Mountain + The Black Angels

29

30 SUN

01

Sala Rossa H-110 Concordia Stadium Varsity Arena

20h30 & 23h30 20h30 13h00 19h30

Sala Rossa

20h30 & 23h30

Casa Del Popolo Patrick Gymnasium CAPS CAPS Concordia Gym

23h30 19h30 13h00 15h00 08h30

H-110 La Tulipe

19h00 20h30

!

S T N E V E IA D R O C N HELP PROMOTE CSOARE ADVERTISED FOR FREE

.COM ALL EVENT LISTTOINEGVENTS@THECONCORDIAN TIME SEND YOUR LIDISETANSAME OF EVENT, LOCATION, AND PLEASE